Secret Santa Stars Hollow Style
by louloucn
Summary: As Rory invites Paris over for the holidays, Stars Hollow prepares for their 1st X-Mas Secret Santa. Wackiness ensues as everyone (esp. Lorelai) try to figure out who's got who. Paris/Jess hints, L/L cuteness, as well as other ships. **COMPLETE!**
1. PART I WHAT IS A SECRET SANTA?

Title: Secret Santa Stars Hollow Style 

Feedback: Yes please. 

Summary: After their first term at Harvard, Rory invites Paris to stay in Stars Hollow for the Christmas Break, smack dab in the middle of the town's first Secret Santa Christmas celebration. Craziness ensues as everyone (especially Lorelai) tries to figure out who's their Secret Santa.

Spoilers: Everything up till _Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving_. 

Rating: PG-13 

Pairings: definite possibilities for Paris/Jess, Luke/Lorelai, and other ships. 

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from _Gilmore Girls _

Note: This is a first for me on many levels. Not only is this my first GG fanfic and the first fluffy fic but my first fic in answer to a challenge from _Ditch the Logical. _I was thinking about this as I came home from school and wondered what it would be like if Taylor made the whole town participate in a Secret Santa. And after much consideration, I decided to have it take place during Rory's first year at Harvard. Reason? Well, as much as I have no qualms about Literati, I wanted this to have Dipper goodness and open up the possibilities of other UC ships that I love on the show. I won't say anything more but the reason for this story isn't exactly as clear as you would think. (ie. It's not totally Paris centric but I wanted Paris there) It's a surprise! (this is totally an experiment cuz I don't know if I can write GG well enough…just try it) 

****

PART I- WHAT IS A SECRET SANTA?

"So it's okay that I stay with you for Christmas?" asked Paris as she dragged the last of her bags into the house. 

"Yeah of course!" Rory said as she plopped her last bag into the living room. 

"Cuz I mean I don't want to be burden. It's just that my parents, out of a whim, decided to take separate vacations to Cuba and Hawaii and I just didn't want to be at home alone and…" Paris explained. 

"Hey," Rory interrupted. "I invited you remember? You're my friend and I didn't want to see you moping around, alone in your empty house." 

"Thanks." Paris said with a small smile as she shrugged slightly. 

"You're welcome." Rory replied as smiled back. "Anyways, we both need a break from all the studying that we did for our midterms. God, that was killer!" 

"Yeah." Paris said in agreement as they both plopped themselves on the couch. "I didn't think that I'd make it." 

"I thought you were going to pop a blood vessel or have a stroke through it." Rory remarked, as she looked over at Paris. 

"I was sort of intense for a while wasn't I?" Paris confessed as she looked at Rory. 

"Intense wouldn't be the word I'd use…"Rory admitted as she looked away. _Psychotic madwoman more like it!_ Rory thought to herself as stared at the ceiling, hoping she didn't have to elaborate. Thank God they didn't have to room together. Man, did she feel bad for Sophie. That girl should win a prize for being the most tolerant, patient person in the world to room with Paris. Thre_e months in Washington was enough_ Rory thought to herself as she remembered their summer together before senior year. She drove her crazy then. Imagine what it would be like to live with her with college stress. And don't even remind her about her rants at night. The crazy things she would mumble… "Anyways, that's over now. For the next two weeks, you're going to forget about everything about college and just relax. And that is one thing you can definitely do in Stars Hollow." 

"So what are we actually going to be during the holidays?" Paris asked as she wondered what surprises laid ahead for her. 

"Probably nothing. Just some traditional holiday stuff around town and Christmas dinner at my grandparents." Rory speculated. "I mean, my mom didn't say anything to the contrary." 

"Okay, that I can handle." Paris sighed with relief. "Just as long as there is no crazy smalltown ritual involved, I'll be okay." 

"Rory?" a voice called from the outside as keys could be heard jangling from the front door. "Are you home?" 

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed with excitement as she ran to the door. 

"Rory!" Lorelai squealed as she burst open the door and jumped to hug Rory tightly. "God, I've missed you babe." 

"I've missed you too Mom." Rory exclaimed as she held onto Lorelai. "But could you loosen the grip a little bit…I don't think I can breathe." 

"Well, that's too bad cuz it's a mother's prerogative to hold on tight." Lorelai rationalized as she kept on hugging. "Especially to a daughter they've haven't seen in forever." 

"Mom, I came home for Thanksgiving remember?" Rory remarked as she looked at her. 

"Well it felt like a lifetime." Lorelai replied as finally loosened her grip and took a moment to look at her. "So how were your exams?" 

"They were crazy but we survived." Rory said with a smile, as she looked over at Paris, sitting a little uncomfortably on the couch. It was just so unusual for her to see a mother and daughter love each other so much. She didn't think ever once hug her own mother like that. 

"Hey Paris!" Lorelai exclaimed, as she walked over to Paris to give her a hug as well, much to Paris' surprise. "I'm so glad you came to stay with us." 

"I'm glad too." Paris admitted with a wide smile. "Thanks for letting me come." 

"It's no problem!" Lorelai replied as she shrugged it off. "The more the merrier I say when it comes to Christmas!" as she sat on the coffee table. 

"You're really in a good mood." Rory remarked as she noticed the extra wide grin on Lorelai's face. 

"I'm just so happy that you're home." Lorelai explained as she pulled Rory towards her for another hug. 

"I know you're happy that I'm home but there's something else." Rory said suspiciously as she looked at her mother. "You're _giddy_. And I know it's not the snow cuz it hasn't snowed yet so you must know something that I don't. Come on! Tell us! Tell us now!" 

"Okay. You got me, but I am happy that you're though." Lorelai insisted as she looked at both Rory and Paris, both wondering what she was about to tell them. "Guess what Taylor has planned for Christmas?" 

"What?" Rory asked with a heavy heart. _This is bound to be crazy, _she thought to herself as she looked at Paris' worried expression. 

_Please God, don't let this be a weird smalltown, beatnik custom, _Paris thought to herself. She didn't have a clue who Taylor was but she had a feeling he didn't come up with something good. 

"A Secret Santa! For the whole town!" Lorelai exclaimed with enthusiasm. "And I signed us all up for it, including Paris!" 

"Great…"Paris mumbled softly as she folded her arms. Her worst nightmare was about to come true and she didn't even know what Secret Santa is. "Umm…what's a secret santa?" 

"You don't know what a Secret Santa is?" Lorelai said in a state of shock. "That's..oh my God…where have you been living? Honey, it's game where people put their names in like a hat or something and everyone draws out a name and whoever name you pick, you have to get them a present. But the trick is that you don't tell the person you've got that you have them and by the end, you tell them."

"It's fun." Rory insisted as she watched Paris and the puzzled look on her face. 

"And this one lasts a whole week! So you can imagine what kind of stuff you can get." Lorelai said with amusement. "I mean, never underestimate the power of a gift." 

"But what if you get someone bad and you don't know what to get them or what if the person who has you is awful and gets you the worst gifts possible? I don't know.." Paris exclaimed as became increasingly worried. 

"Yeah, that would totally suck." Rory admitted. 

"Oh come on girls! It's going to be great!" Lorelai said with encouragement. "If you can't find something to get someone, there's no going wrong with a gag present. And you don't have to get them someone a lot of gifts. You can get them one really good gift. All it really has to be is fun." 

"So Paris, are you in?" Rory asked, hoping that her mother had convinced her. Sure, she was skeptical at first as well but this could turn out to be something not half bad. 

As Paris looked at the hopeful expressions on both Lorelai's and Rory's faces, she couldn't help but concede. "Yeah…I'm in." she said with a sigh. "I just hope that I don't regret it." 

"Great!" Rory said with a smile. "Don't worry. It'll be fun, I promise." as she hugged Paris' shoulders. 

"I haven't even gotten to the best part yet." Lorelai said with a devilish smile. 

"More surprises?" Paris cried out. 

"Guess who I got to join in?" Lorelai said in a singsong tone. 

"No…" Rory said with a shock. 

"None other than our very own Luke aka. Butch Danes." Lorelai exclaimed in triumph. 

_Butch Danes? _Paris asked herself in puzzlement as she watched both Lorelai and Rory in hysterics. 

"How did you do it?" Rory said in between giggles. 

"Well let's just say that a certain grumpy coffee shop owner that we both know lost a very important game of bagel hockey this morning." Lorelai explained with glee. "And let me say this: the stakes were high my friend. So high in fact that I told him if he lost, he would have to partake in this year's festivities." 

"You played bagel hockey without me?" Rory said with a fake look of disappointment. 

"You're missing the point, honey." Lorelai continued. "I, Lorelai Gilmore, single handedly got Luke to cave in." 

"But he must have tried to weasel out of it." Rory observed. 

"Weasel he did, but nothing could make me budge." Lorelai proclaimed. "Yes, it got ugly. Messy even, but in the end, he had to admit that he lost and I won." 

"Wow…you won." Rory said with admiration. 

"And then he got so mad, he forced Jess into it as well." Lorelai added. "Boy, that was hilarious *sigh*"

"Jess is home?" Rory asked as she looked at Lorelai as she mentioned her ex-boyfriend. 

"Yeah, he came home from NYU yesterday." Lorelai explained. 

"How did he look? Did he look fine?" Rory asked. 

"He looked like the same old smug looking kid when he left." Lorelai replied. 

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed. 

"I was just teasing! He looked fine Rory." Lorelai insisted. Although she didn't much like him when he first came to Stars Hollow as well as when he started to date Rory, during the course of his short-lived relationship with her daughter, they basically came to an understanding and sort of came to respect each other. Sort of. 

"That's good." Rory said with relief. Although her and Jess had broken up at the beginning of summer and it was a bit heart wrenching, it was an amicable breakup and no one was left with hurt feelings. They just decided that they would be better off as friends and since they were about to leave for college, it would be best if they just parted ways. Towards the end of summer, it really seemed like they had started to become just friends. 

"So when does this so-called Secret Santa thing start anyways?" Paris interjected suddenly as she felt awkward about being left out of the conversation. 

"On Saturday." Lorelai said with a cheerful smile. "I can't wait!"

"Me neither…"Paris said with a heavy sigh as she watched Rory and Lorelai huddled in laughter. _Of all the crazy towns I decide to stay in, I'm stuck in Stars Hollow?! _

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. PART II THE RULES OF THE GAME

Title: Secret Santa Stars Hollow Style 

Feedback: Yes please. 

Summary: After their first term at Harvard, Rory invites Paris to stay in Stars Hollow for the Christmas Break, smack dab in the middle of the town's first Secret Santa Christmas celebration. Craziness ensues as everyone (especially Lorelai) tries to figure out who's their Secret Santa.

Spoilers: Everything up till _Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving_. 

Rating: PG-13 

Pairings: definite possibilities for Paris/Jess, Luke/Lorelai, and other ships. 

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from _Gilmore Girls _

Note: This is a first for me on many levels. Not only is this my first GG fanfic and the first fluffy fic but my first fic in answer to a challenge from _Ditch the Logical. _I was thinking about this as I came home from school and wondered what it would be like if Taylor made the whole town participate in a Secret Santa. And after much consideration, I decided to have it take place during Rory's first year at Harvard. Reason? Well, as much as I have no qualms about Literati, I wanted this to have Dipper goodness and open up the possibilities of other UC ships that I love on the show. I won't say anything more but the reason for this story isn't exactly as clear as you would think. (ie. It's not totally Paris centric but I wanted Paris there) It's a surprise! (this is totally an experiment cuz I don't know if I can write GG well enough…just try it) 

****

PART II- THE RULES OF THE GAME

_RING! RING! _

_"_PEOPLE! PEOPLE! ATTENTION PLEASE!" Taylor announced as he yelled into loud microphone which stood in front of him while ringing a old school bell that hung beside him. He was standing on the gazebo stage as he watched the townspeople chattering amongst themselves. _Doesn't anyone listen to authority anymore? _Taylor thought to himself as he became increasingly frustrated by the lack of attention, as well as respect he was getting. "PEOPLE PLEASE QUIET DOWN!"

"Taylor's getting angry." Rory muttered quietly as she sipped on her coffee. 

"Look at how red he's getting." Paris observed as she stood beside her. "Does anyone listen to him?" 

"We do eventually." Rory explained. It was nice to be able to enlighten someone about the ways of Stars Hollow. "After he turns several different shades of red." 

"I can see that." Paris said with odd fascination. "He looks like he's about to burst." 

"Yeah." Rory said with a sigh. "But isn't it fun watching him squirm." 

"Where's your mom?" Paris said as she looked around for Lorelai. "I don't see her anywhere." 

"She'll be here soon." Rory assured her. "She just has to…" 

"Hey I'm here! I'm here!" Lorelai interjected breathlessly, as she came to sudden halt, dragging a sulking Luke by the hand, with Jess following behind, equally as unhappy as Luke was. 

"…drag Luke here." Rory finished, as she watched Jess come to stand between her and Paris. "Hey." 

"Hey." Jess said simply, as he nodded to Rory. "How's Harvard treating you?" 

"Fine." Rory replied with a smile. "Jess, you remember Paris don't you?" 

"Yeah." Jess replied as he looked over at Paris. "It's nice to see you again, despite the unhappy circumstances." 

"Nice to see you too." Paris replied as she smiled at him. Although it had been more than a year since she had seen him, he was exactly as she remembered him. A little bit of a jerk at times, kinda sort on the small talk, but nevertheless strangely fascinating. "I guess you got forced into this too." 

"Yeah." Jess admitted as he swayed from side to side with impatience. "I should have minded my own business and stayed upstairs. But no. I had to come downstairs and get dragged into their whole melodrama." As he pointed towards Lorelai and Luke. 

"I can't believe I let you hussle me into this." Luke complained, as he put his hands into his jacket, hoping that someone could kill him now and put him out of his misery. 

"Ah!" Lorelai scoffed. "I did not hussle you into this. You lost fair and square and now you're going to enjoy this happy holiday season like the rest of us." 

"You cheated and tricked me into this. Don't roll your eyes at me Lorelai!" Luke said with a scowl. "You cheated and you know it." 

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lorelai said nonchalantly, pretending she didn't hear a word he said. "Now hush!" she said as she hooked her arm around Luke's. "You're missing the best part! Just look at Taylor! I'm telling you Daddy's getting angry." 

"Fine." Luke said with a sigh as he gave up. "Even though I know you're just saying that to distract me, the look on Taylor's face right now is enough to keep me sane. For now." He said as a last ditch effort of a threat before breaking into a smile. 

"Hi Rory." Dean said as he approached her from behind. 

"Dean!" Rory said as she gave him a quick hug. "I didn't know you were home!" 

"Well I came home a week ago since my exams finished early." Dean explained. He had gone to a small community college nearby in Hartford and hadn't seen her since the summer. " I'm working for Taylor again to get some extra cash and he kind of forced me to sign up. Company policy he said." 

"Well I'm glad you're back." Rory said sincerely. Although it was hard at first to get things back to the way they used to be between her and Dean after breaking up horribly and her choosing Jess over him, now they had gotten to a place where they both could be friends again. 

"Thanks." Dean said with a smile. "Hi Paris. Nice to see you again." 

"Hi Dean." Paris replied, as she turned her head to the side to smile at him. She then looked over at Rory with her pained look. From what she gathered, this whole reunion might not turn out so pretty. 

As Dean looked over at Jess, the smile on his face faded. "Jess." Even though he had dealt with Jess and his relationship with Rory, every time he saw this guy, he just rubbed him the wrong way. 

"Dean." Jess said with a smirk. "What's up big guy? Are you in the holiday spirit yet?" 

"I got drag into this the same as you." Dean replied with a scowl. "So maybe you should be the one getting festive." 

"Hey! I know!" Jess said sarcastically. "We could do it together! Better yet, we could be caroling buddies. Join hands and go door to door, rousing the townpeople with a hearty song. Can you see it now? We could sing 'Deck the halls with boughs of holly fa la la la la la la la la la' huh?" he sang, raising his eyebrows to annoy Dean further. _Let's see what kind of maniac he'll turn out to be today, _he thought to himself. 

"Deck the halls?" Dean replied in annoyance. " I think I would rather frickin' deck you!" 

"Hey! Hey!" Paris interjected as she blocked Jess, who was ready to rumble, as Rory held back Dean. "Maybe you save your homoerotic chitchat slash pissing contest for later. I think the guy on the stage is about to have a coronary." Paris added as she pointed to Taylor. 

"**WILL EVERYONE JUST PLEASE SHUT UP NOW!!!**" Taylor yelled in a fury, making the microphone released a piercing noise, rousing everyone's attention as they held their ears in pain. "That's better." 

The townspeople finally became silent as Taylor continued. "As you all know this is the first annual Stars Hollow Secret Santa event. I know you, as well as I have been anxiously anticipating this festive occasion." 

"You bet." Lorelai whispered in agreement and looked over at Luke's unhappy expression. 

"Shut up." He hissed back, folding his arms in discontent. 

"The Secret Santa will run like this." Taylor explained. "For those of you who have signed up for this, I as well as Miss Patty have carefully written your names on a card, folded carefully and placed in individual envelopes. As you can see," he said as he held up one of the envelopes. "You cannot tell whose name is in each envelope as it is designed to not let anyone be able to read the card unless you open the envelope. Miss Patty will now circulate and give each one of you a envelope." 

As Taylor spoke, Miss Patty walked carefully off the stage, holding the big basket of envelopes, prudently giving each person a card. 

"Do not, I repeat do not open the card until…KIRK!" Taylor yelled. 

"I just got so excited, my hands slipped." Kirk explained, as he quickly stuck the inside pocket of his jacket. 

"As I was in the middle of saying, DO NOT OPEN…" Taylor commenced again. 

"UNTIL WE'RE ALONE, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH." Luke interjected impatiently. "Are you finished Taylor or are you going to keep yapping until we freeze our asses off." 

"Well if you weren't in such a hurry to interrupt maybe I could finish." Taylor remarked as he watched several people, including Lorelai, trying miserably to hold back from bursting into laughter. "I mean, if only you people would have listened when I called you…" 

"TAYLOR!" Luke yelled back. "GET TO THE POINT!" 

"As I was saying, read the name in the envelope when you're alone and quickly discard of the card. Then you will be your selected person's Secret Santa for a week. Do as you wish with the time, giving them small little gifts or a big gift. It doesn't matter as long as you get into the holiday spirit and get them a gift. Please people, I don't stress this enough, this is a time of good will towards men and such so please be thoughtful. And to continue in this holiday festivities, I will also be hanging mistletoe in various areas and stores throughout the town…" 

"Mistletoe?! Did you say Mistletoe?!" Kirk exclaimed, taken completely by surprise by the word. 

"Do I have to repeat myself over and over again Kirk? Yes, mistletoe. I thought it would be a nice touch." 

"That's a great idea!" Babette replied. "Maybe you can get some practice in the art of kissing in public sugar." As she looked over at Rory. The girl was a sweetheart, but she's a few lame-o kisses. _Just got to give a little_ _ummph_. 

"What?" Rory said in surprise and then looked over at Lorelai, who was holding her gut, pained by all the laughing. "Hey!" 

"Don't be mocking her!" Miss Patty interjected, as she looked over at Lorelai. "You could need some practice yourself sweetheart. No offense darling, but your track record in dating hasn't been best lately." 

"Ha!" Rory shouted back. 

"Hey! Not funny anymore!" Lorelai exclaimed, as she looked over at the people, heads down. "Sookie!" 

"Honey, it's not so bad." Sookie replied apologetically as held onto Jackson's arm, who was looking away. 

"That's easy for you to say. You've got Jackson." Lorelai pouted as she looked back at Luke. "What do you have to say?" 

"Did I say anything?" Luke replied, as he shrugged. 

"Well you better not." Lorelai warned him, as she held onto him and gave him her best threatening scowl. 

"People! Can we get back to business?" Taylor hollered as he looked over to the commotion. "Did everyone get a card yet? Good. Anyways, the last thing is that the Secret Santa will officially end on Christmas Eve where at midnight, right here in the square, we tell who are Secret Santas are. Comprende? Everybody clear? Good. Meeting adjourned." 

"Thank God!" Luke sighed with relief as began to sprint quickly away from the scene. 

"I second that!" Jess agreed as he ran towards the diner at an even greater speed than Luke. 

"So have you seen who you got yet Luke?" Lorelai asked innocently. 

"How could I, with you looking over my shoulder the whole time!" Luke responded in annoyance. 

"And don't you even think about getting near this baby." 

"Come on! Let me see it! Lorelai pleaded as she began to chase after him. "Pretty, pretty please!" 

"Hey, stay away from me!" Luke cried out, as he pulled away from her running faster so that she couldn't catch him. 

"Gotcha!" Lorelai cried out as she jumped on Luke's back, trying to get her hands into his jacket pocket. 

"What the hell Lorelai!" Luke cried out as she covered his eyes. "Haven't you ever heard of letting up?" 

"Come on Luke…" Lorelai continued as she was still on his back. "I'll get you a toy… wouldn't you like a toy?" 

"Fat chance of that happening." Luke retorted as he pushed her hands away from him. "I haven't even seen the other toy you promised me before." 

"It's coming in installments." Lorelai explained. "Come on.. sooner or later you're going to give in." 

"Pfft. Dream on!" Luke scoffed, as he managed to get himself back to his diner. 

"Luke… please…" Lorelai pleaded. 

As Rory turned away from the spectacle that her mother was having with Luke, she looked towards Paris, holding tightly the envelope in her hand. "Have you looked at it yet?" 

"No." Paris admitted. "Kinda afraid to. What if I get a freak? The chances of that are pretty good. I mean this whole town is full of freaks, present company excluded." As she looked at Dean and Rory. 

"Don't worry." Rory assured her as she began to walk slowly with Paris and Dean towards her house. "I mean they looked like freaks now but they're really nice people. Honest."

"If you say so." Paris replied, not truly convinced by Rory's words. "So, Dean, who did you look at your card yet?" 

"Yeah I looked." Dean answered plainly. 

"So who did you get?" Rory asked, clearly intrigued.  
  
"Well you'll just have to wait and see won't you?" Dean responded as he began to walk away from them towards Doose's Market. " I have to go to work now so I'll see you later Rory. I'll see you too Paris." 

"Aren't you going to give us a clue at least?" Rory inquired, becoming more curious by the minute.  


"Let's just say that I know what I'm getting said person." Dean said with a smile. 

"Darn." Rory exclaimed as she continued walking with Paris. "I wonder who he got."

"I don't know but I know who I got." Paris said with a sigh as she looked at the card and showed it to Rory. "Dean. At least he's not such a loser but what the hell do I get Prince William huh?" 

"Don't worry Paris." Rory said calmingly. "You have me and I know Dean. Getting him a gift will be easy as pie. He'll be happy with anything you get him." 

"What about you? Who did you get?" Paris asked, as she looked over at Rory. Clearly she was getting distressed. 

"Oh no!" Rory moaned as she looked at the card and then looked at it even harder the second time around. "KIRK! I've got Kirk! What do you suppose I get him?" 

"I don't know." Paris replied with a stifled laugh. 

"Hey Paris," Rory asked nonchalantly. "Old buddy, old pal, do you think you'd switch with me would you?" as she batted her eyelashes. 

"Hell no. I've got enough problems here with your ex-boyfriend here without weird guy Kirk there." Paris said firmly. "But just to clarify, is he as weird as he looks?" 

"It's sad to admit but he's even weirder." Rory admitted as she tore the card into bits and threw it into the nearby trash can. "But I guess that's my luck. As they say, let the games begin." 

TO BE CONTINUED. 


	3. PART III LET'S PLAY

Title: Secret Santa Stars Hollow Style 

Feedback: Yes please. 

Summary: After their first term at Harvard, Rory invites Paris to stay in Stars Hollow for the Christmas Break, smack dab in the middle of the town's first Secret Santa Christmas celebration. Craziness ensues as everyone (especially Lorelai) tries to figure out who's their Secret Santa.

Spoilers: Everything up till _Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving_. 

Rating: PG-13 

Pairings: definite possibilities for Paris/Jess, Luke/Lorelai, and other ships. 

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from _Gilmore Girls _

Note: This is a first for me on many levels. Not only is this my first GG fanfic and the first fluffy fic but my first fic in answer to a challenge from _Ditch the Logical. _I was thinking about this as I came home from school and wondered what it would be like if Taylor made the whole town participate in a Secret Santa. And after much consideration, I decided to have it take place during Rory's first year at Harvard. Reason? Well, as much as I have no qualms about Literati, I wanted this to have Dipper goodness and open up the possibilities of other UC ships that I love on the show. I won't say anything more but the reason for this story isn't exactly as clear as you would think. (ie. It's not totally Paris centric but I wanted Paris there) It's a surprise! (this is totally an experiment cuz I don't know if I can write GG well enough…just try it) 

****

PART III- LET'S PLAY

Lorelai yawned as she walked slowly towards the mailbox outside. _People should not be forced to wake up this early, _she thought to herself as she continued to walk closer to it. Her eyes were barely opened as she walked crookedly towards it, opening it up. But as she pulled down the mailbox hatch, what she found made her widen with delight. Inside was a relatively good size bag wrapped in ribbon filled with chocolate bars, candy, and all of her favourite sweets. Looking at the card, with a pretty penmanship, it was clear that it was sent to her. 

As she walked back towards the door, she noticed two other packages laid out on the porch. While she busily opened her own package of goodies like a crazy little kid, she put the other two packages under her arm and proceeded to rush into the kitchen.

"Hey girls!" Lorelai called out, as she peeked into Rory's bedroom. "I don't know about guys but I totally scored with having the best Secret Santa." 

"What did you get mom?" Rory asked as she approached her. "Candy! You're so lucky." 

"Hey, don't worry girls." Lorelai exclaimed between mouthfuls of chocolate. "You guys got packages too. It's probably not as awesome as my gift but looks like it's got potential." 

"Wow." Paris exclaimed as looked at the careful wrapping of her gift. "I've never gotten a gift before from a stranger. I wonder what it is." As she pulled away at the wrapping, she smiled widely. "Pride and Prejudice. How did they know that I love this book?" 

"I got a book too." Rory said with not as enthusiasm as Lorelai or Paris. "Just not the kind of book I'm used to reading." 

"_The year of Dating Dangerously:1001 ways to please your man and keep him_." Lorelai recited as she held back her laughter. "Not exactly what you would call a Pulitzer Prize winner." 

"What am I going to do with this?" Rory asked them as they smiled. 

"Now you know how to please your man." Lorelai replied. 

"I don't need to 'please my man', thank you very much." Rory insisted. "Besides I think he likes me just the way I am." 

"That's because he's crazy about you." Paris replied, walking away as she stared at her book. "He's always have." 

"Tristan's not crazy about me." Rory protested and then stopped. "Do you think he's crazy about me?" 

"Sure he is honey." Lorelai replied as she began to suck on a lollypop. "Not only did he make you miserable in high school but he's been calling the house constantly since you came home. He's perfect for you." 

"He's perfect." Paris agreed as she began to flip through her novel. "I mean I should know. I was crazy about him for the longest time." 

"When do I get to meet this Lothario?" Lorelai asked Rory, as she started towards the stairs. "I mean I've heard of him so much about him over the years, I would like to sometime put a face to the person I keep taking messages from or the mystery guy who is dating my daughter hmm?" 

"I showed you pictures." Rory exclaimed in defense. Ever since she started dating him, she had been sending pictures back to her mom. How could she expect to see him so soon? They had only been dating for two months, while only meeting each other again at Harvard a month into school. It was still a relatively new thing.  
  


"Pictures ain't the real thing honey." Lorelai explained as sucked on her lolly a little harder. "I need to see the real deal." 

"Well he can't just yet." Rory explained to Lorelai, hoping that Lorelai would stop prying soon and deflect her attentions onto the candy. "He's gone skiing with his parents in Vermont for the holidays so there wouldn't be any chance of him coming back in time to visit. But I promise. The next time I come home, I will definitely bring him back with me." 

"Alright then." Lorelai agreed as cracked her teeth on the lolly. "Cool. Bubblegum! So do you guys want to meet up for lunch later?" 

"Sure." Rory replied as she started to flip through her book. _That picture on pg. 140 looks interesting…_

"Right, I'll see you guys later at Luke's at around 1 okay?" Lorelai replied as she rushed up the stairs. "I've gotta go upstairs and change now, so you guys do whatever…" 

"Yeah…" Paris and Rory said absently mindedly as they both sat on the couch, clearly occupied by their respective books. 

**** 

"Hey Luke." Rory exclaimed as she approached his counter at Luke's. "Did you get anything yet from your Secret Santa?" 

"Yeah. I woke up this morning to find a baseball bat in the front of the door with a message saying like _the better to whack people over the head my dear _and this poster." Luke replied as she pulled out the poster from beneath the counter. 

"_Come one, come all: cell phones welcome here._" Rory read out loud as both her and Paris sat on stools. "That's funny!" 

"We can use our cell phones here?" Kirk exclaimed as he began to whip out his own cell phone. 

"NO CELL PHONES PERIOD!" Luke lashed back as Kirk retreated his phone back into his pocket. "And it's not like you have anyone to call to except your mother!" 

"Hey! That was uncalled for." Kirk insisted as he sank into his chair. "I was only asking. I mean, you shouldn't put up a sign like that if you don't mean it." 

"It's not a real sign Kirk! It's a fake!" Luke yelled back. "I swear Rory. My Secret Santa is messing with me. And if I find out it's Taylor or Kirk, I swear…they're dead. DEAD! YOU HEAR ME? DEAD!" 

"Hey chill out Unkie Luke." Jess exclaimed as he appeared downstairs. "You might frighten away potential customers. Hey Rory, Hey Paris, did you get any fun gifts today? I mean, I wouldn't want to start ranting like a lunatic like some people." 

"Shut up Jess." Luke said with a scowl. "And it's LUKE. You got that smartmouth?" 

"Aye, aye captain." Jess said as he saluted Luke. 

"Don't salute me." Luke yelled. "Just get to work." 

"Luke, don't get so worked up over the sign." Rory insisted. "I mean, at least you're not Taylor. Did you hear someone decorated his Christmas tree outside with police tape? He was so crazy, he's been ranting all over town." 

"I've heard." Luke said with a smile. "Just to see Taylor all rised up like that makes my day a little bit brighter." 

"You know what keeps crossing my mind?" Rory said suspiciously. "Where did he get the police tape. Do you have any idea Jess?" 

"Hey! Don't look at me!" Jess insisted as he raised his hands and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm as clueless as the next guy." 

"Sure, sure you are." Rory said, not truly believing in him. 

"So Paris, what did you get today?" Jess asked Paris, desperately trying to change the subject. 

"A book. _Pride and Prejudice._" Paris replied with a smile. "I got off pretty light unlike some people." She said as she pointed at Rory. 

"My Secret Santa sent me a self-help book on dating and 'pleasuring my man', whatever that means." Rory said as she showed the book to Jess. 

"Huh…this might have come in handy while we were dating." Jess replied casually. "I guess we missed the boat on that one right?" 

"I guess so." Rory replied with a look of skepticism. "So, smart boy, what did you get today?" 

"Surprisingly enough, a book." Jess replied. 

"Wow. Stars Hollow townspeople sure are original with their choice of gift aren't they." Paris remarked. 

"Yeah they sure are." Jess agreed. " But what I got was a doozy. A piece of American literature that will truly make you think." As he plopped the book onto the counter. 

"Betty and Veronica." Paris read with a smile. "Can't say it isn't a classic." 

"Sure is. A double digest." Jess said with sarcasm. "It came with this note: _You like to read, right? _What am I going to learn from this? How to choose between Betty or Veronica? Who was the bigger chump? Archie or Reggie? Or was Archie really a closet homosexual male after Mr. Weatherbee, Mr. Lodge and Jughead."

"Hey, don't mess with Betty!" Kirk interjected. "She was the hot one and Archie kept dumping her for Ronnie. That bastard!" 

"I've always kind of liked Veronica." Paris admitted. "Betty was the innocent blond twit who kept mooning over Veronica's man. Okay, Archie was a moron but Veronica still had him wrapped around his fingers right?" 

"Exactly!" Jess exclaimed in total agreement. 

"Ah! You two!" Kirk scoffed as he got up from his chair in disgust. "I'll pretend I didn't hear you say that" he said calmly as he walked casually out of the diner, shaking his head in disbelief. 

"I can't believe I was just talking about who was the better woman for Archie." Paris said incredulously. "I feel so dirty." 

"Here, read this." Jess replied as he whipped out a copy of Salinger's _Nine Stories_. "This will cleanse you." 

"Promise?" Paris asked. 

"Promise." Jess insisted. 

"Hey guys!" Lane exclaimed happily as she walked through the door, hand in hand with Dave. 

"Wow Lane!" Rory exclaimed as she jumped off her seat to greet her. "I've missed you so much!" 

"I've missed you too!" Lane replied happily as she hugged her best friend tightly. "How have you been?" 

"I've been good." Rory answered. "You know Paris right?" 

"I remember." Lane replied as smiled and waved. "Nice to see you again Paris. This is my boyfriend Dave." 

"Hi, nice to meet you." Paris exclaimed as she extended her hand. 

"Hi to you too Paris." Dave replied as he shook her hand. "Rory, you look good."  
  
"Thanks." Rory said with a smile. 

"Hey man!" Dave exclaimed as he waved towards Jess. 

"Hey yourself!" Jess replied as he shook his hand and patted him on the back. "You've been good." 

"It's been great." Dave said with a smile. "Lane and I have been loving the sunny weather at UCLA." 

"It's so great down there." Lane exclaimed. "You've got to come visit sometime." 

"I still can't believe that you're living in California." Rory exclaimed as they all sat down by a nearby table. " And Mama Kim let you go off there." 

"I can't believe it myself either." Lane said as she held onto Dave's hand. "But don't forget: I still have to major in Theology while majoring in Music. That bites sometimes." 

"But at least you're living your life." Rory exclaimed. "And Mama Kim likes Dave too." 

"Yeah." Lane said with a smile. "But who wouldn't love Dave? Look at how cute he is?"as she touched his face and gave him a quick kiss. 

"Hey don't make me blush here Lane." Dave replied. "So what's happening with you guys? I heard from Mama Kim that you guys are all doing this Secret Santa thing?" 

"Yeah, and some of us are not doing this by choice either by the way." Jess explained.  
  


"well, it sounds like fun." Lane exclaimed. 

"It's okay for now but it's still too soon to tell." Rory replied. "But just the fun of seeing Taylor getting mad over his Christmas tree makes you think that it's worth all the trouble." 

"I heard about that!" Lane exclaimed in shock. "So it's true?" 

"Completely." Rory replied. 

"Man, I always miss the best parts!" 

**** 

Kirk began to brush his teeth as he looked at himself in the mirror. _So much for getting a good Secret Santa_ he thought to himself. His completely sucked. For the whole day, all that everyone could ever talk about was what gift they got from their Secret Santa. Miss Patty had gotten a CD of her favourite songs, while Jackson got a deepfried turkey. Babette found new gnomes in her yard and Sookie got a mock newspaper review exclaiming that she was the best chef in the world. Even Stock boy got something from Secret Santa and what did he get? Nothing. Nobody ever sends Kirk something nice. Nope, nobody cares about Kirk. Except maybe his mummy but that doesn't count. For once, could someone please think about Kirk for a change? 

As Kirk was about to tuck himself into bed, still pretty upset by his stupid Secret Santa, whoever he was, suddenly he could hear some noise from outside his bedroom. The noise, whatever it was, was getting louder and louder. As he pulled open his window, he recognized the tune but it was still too unbearable to stand. 

"Hey! People are trying to sleep here so could you turn that down?" Kirk cried out as he stuck his head outside the window. "Hey! I like the Rocky theme song as much as the next guy but could you turn down the music?" 

As he protested, the music became louder and louder as the neighbours began to complain as well. 

As the tune continued to play, the volume becoming louder and louder, finally, out of despair, out of anger, Kirk jumped out of his bed, and ran toward his door. 

"Yes mother, I'm trying to get those jerks to stop playing their music" Kirk yelled out as loud as he could. As he stuck out his head out of door, he used all of his might to yell as loud as he could. "COULD YOU PLEASE SHUT THAT MUSIC OFF?!!!" 

Finally, silence came. Kirk took a giant sigh of relief as he heard nothing but the crickets in the air. "FINALLY!" 

As he was about to close the door, suddenly, Kirk stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't feel his limbs move an inch and he wasn't quite sure, but there was a remote possibility that his mouth was hanging wide open. There, in plain sight, was his beloved dancing trophy that he had won last year. 

"BABY! Where have been all this time? Daddy's missed you so much! Yes he has, yes he has!" He exclaimed as he held it tightly in his arms." Daddy's never going to let you go. Ever. Never ever again, you hear?" 

As he took a better look at the trophy as he noticed a note stuck on it. Just reading it made him smile brighter than he had in a while. He didn't care where it had went, where it stayed and with whom it was staying with. She was home and everything was perfect. He read the note once more just to make sure he was right. There was no mistake. _I found something that belonged to you, Love , your secret santa._

TO BE CONTINUED.


	4. PART IV HEY! NO FAIR!

Title: Secret Santa Stars Hollow Style 

Feedback: Yes please. 

Summary: After their first term at Harvard, Rory invites Paris to stay in Stars Hollow for the Christmas Break, smack dab in the middle of the town's first Secret Santa Christmas celebration. Craziness ensues as everyone (especially Lorelai) tries to figure out who's their Secret Santa.

Spoilers: Everything up till _Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving_. 

Rating: PG-13 

Pairings: definite possibilities for Paris/Jess, Luke/Lorelai, and other ships. 

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from _Gilmore Girls _

Note: This is a first for me on many levels. Not only is this my first GG fanfic and the first fluffy fic but my first fic in answer to a challenge from _Ditch the Logical. _I was thinking about this as I came home from school and wondered what it would be like if Taylor made the whole town participate in a Secret Santa. And after much consideration, I decided to have it take place during Rory's first year at Harvard. Reason? Well, as much as I have no qualms about Literati, I wanted this to have Dipper goodness and open up the possibilities of other UC ships that I love on the show. I won't say anything more but the reason for this story isn't exactly as clear as you would think. (ie. It's not totally Paris centric but I wanted Paris there) It's a surprise! (this is totally an experiment cuz I don't know if I can write GG well enough…just try it) 

****

PART IV – HEY! NO FAIR!

Paris rubbed her eyes and sighed. It was about seven o'clock in the morning and nobody was awake yet. As she looked over at Rory from the little roll out cot, she was still bundled up in her tightly, holding some kind of stuffed chicken in her arms. She looked closer to her and watched how she was sleeping, mouth hanging wide open. If she wasn't sleeping so soundly, she would have woken her up. I mean, she was drooling a little. 

Stretching her arms a little, she yawned as she walked into the kitchen. The house seemed strange. Maybe because it is not often that there would be complete silence. After living with Lorelai and Rory for the past couple of days, she realized quickly that this was no ordinary house she had walked into. From their strange eating habits to their late night video rentals to their crazy, inane, albeit funny chatter, she knew one thing for sure: Stars Hollow was kind of growing on her. _I must be turning into one of the town freaks, _she thought to herself as she pour water into the coffee maker. _But so help me god I actually like it here. _As she was about to get coffee (extra strong cuz Lorelai demands it being no other way), she could hear a soft tapping at the door. _Wow! somebody actually awake at this hour? _She thought to herself. It must have been a miracle. As she opened the door, the person staring right back at her made her stop dead in her tracks. 

"Oh my God!" Paris exclaimed as she tried to cover herself. In that moment alone did she truly realize she was wearing pajamas with monkeys on it and her hair was probably sticking every which way. As she was about to pat down her hair, she quickly realized that her hair was not the most urgent thing at this moment. "Heh heh." Paris chuckled. "This is some kind of joke right?" 

"Why good morning to you too Paris." Jess answered as he stood by the door. 

" Jess, when you said that you were getting into the Christmas spirit I didn't think you literally meant it." Paris exclaimed as she looked away so that he wouldn't see her laugh harder. "I mean I've never been much for these secular Christian holidays but isn't this taking it a bit too far?" 

Jess was standing there, wearing a santa hat with bells on it and holding a tray of coffees in his hands, amongst other things. 

"Just let me in will ya?" Jess asked her. "I mean, I thought you were nice. Nicer than those two eating machines you've been living with. Couldn't you give a guy a break?"  
  


"Well not until you tell me why you're wearing a silly hat." Paris exclaimed as she shook her head and then touched his hat. 

"Hey don't touch the hat!" Jess answered as he shrugged her away. "You know, I think living with Rory and Lorelai has been a bad influence on you." 

"Talk about bad influence." Paris scoffed as she smiled at him. " I've heard you're not such a good boy either though looking at you here kinda makes me wonder." 

"Do you talk about me?" Jess asked as he looked at her and then he suddenly realized that maybe Paris shacking up with Rory, his ex-girlfriend no less, wasn't such a great idea after all. 

"You couldn't even imagine the things they told me!" Paris replied with a laugh remembering the stories. "You got your car deviled egged before?" 

"Hey, you should blame the sicko who did that!" Jess protested. "My car smelt of eggs and paprika for two days!" 

"The best one was this…hmm, let me remember now?" Paris asked herself as she pretended to ponder. "Oh yeah, that's right. Mr Cool, Rebel without a Cause here used to work at Wal-Mart!" 

"Okay, that's it!" Jess exclaimed. "No more mister nice guy." 

"RORY! LORELAI! OH RORY! LORELAI! GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. 

"Jess!" Rory moaned as she rubbed her eyes walking towards the door. "What is wrong with..hahahaha."she said she burst out laughing. "MOM!" 

"What the hell?" Lorelai grumbled loudly as she stumbled down the stairs. "When I am able to open my eyes, Jess, I'm seriously going to kill you."

"MOM wake up!" Rory said with a giggle as she smiled widely with Paris. "You have to see this." 

"What?! What do you mean…hehhe." Lorelai began as she changed her tone completely. "Oh my God, my Christmas wish came true! Rory get the camera!" 

"I'm way ahead of you!" Rory exclaimed as she ran towards her room to find her digital camera. 

"What the hell!" Jess exclaimed. "It's just a hat! And it wasn't my idea in the first place!" 

"Oh no Jess." Lorelai replied as she looked at Jess with a wicked smile. "That is not any hat. NO. It is the hat to which we will be holding over your head for the rest of your life. Whenever we feel bummed or have nothing else to do, or when we have relatives or company over, we'll whip out these pictures and proceed to laugh and laugh and mock you mercilessly. It's fun for the whole family." 

"Got it!" Rory exclaimed as she ran back and started to click without end with her camera. 

"Oh geez! Rory!" Jess exclaimed as he tried to walk away, trying to block the camera's lens. 

"I think that's enough honey." Lorelai exclaimed as she walked over to Rory. "Enough to blackmail till the end of the century!" 

"Come on! I brought you coffee!" Jess exclaimed as he held out the tray. 

"Coffee? Did you say coffee?" Lorelai asked with wide eyes, jumping around like a excited kid on Christmas day. 

"Wow!" Rory exclaimed in equal delight. "That's so nice of you!" 

"Hey don't thank me." Jess explained as he watched Lorelai, Rory and Paris grab for the coffees. 

"Thank your Secret Santa, well Lorelai's anyways. Luke told me that some kid came in and specifically asked for a coffee delivery to be sent to you and that he specifically asked for me to deliver it to you, which explains this stupid hat that I'm wearing." 

"See? Isn't my Secret Santa the best?" Lorelai exclaimed triumphantly. 

"Ooh, I haven't got to the best part." Jess exclaimed sarcastically, knowing he'd regret this day for the rest of life. "I've got to follow you around town all day to get you coffee. I'm your…oh god, I can't believe I'm saying this… coffee slave." 

"Does life get any better than this?" Lorelai cried out joyfully.

"Hey," Rory asked with wonder. "How did you cave in so easily? I wouldn't never think that you would ever agree to this." As she chuckled some more. 

"Tell you this: the pay sucks." Jess explained. "But let just say that Luke has more than a picture to hold over my head and the fact of the matter is: my twisted uncle would do anything to make me squirm. I swear, when I find out who your Secret Santa is, he's a dead man." 

"Luke probably knows who he or she is!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Didn't he say it was a little kid? We could just find the kid and find out." 

"Whatever." Jess shrugged as he was about to walk away. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot." As he picked up the packages that laid on the ground. "I found these two when I got here." 

As he handed them to Rory and Paris, they began to rip into the packages immediately. 

"What?" Rory moaned as she looked the box. "A travel kit with massage oils?" 

"Hey don't forget the edible chocolate paint." Lorelai pointed so that Rory would notice. "I guess your Secret Santa is going for a love theme or something." 

"Oh my God." Paris gasped as she looked at her gift. "It's a silver menorah." As she held up the tiny menorah, complete with tiny candles to light up. 

"Wow." Rory exclaimed, clearly impressed. " That's so cool Paris. Look! There's a card with it. _Just a little something to remind you of Chanukah._" 

"I mean, I didn't think I was going to do anything Chanukah-related this year." Paris explained, still mesmorized by the gift. "And it's not like I'm into holidays anyways but this is really nice… almost thoughtful." 

"Well, you guys got way better gifts than I did." Jess exclaimed as he shook his head. "Someone sent a little hula girl." 

"What is that for?" Paris asked. 

"You know to put in your car so that when you drives, it starts doing a hula dance." Jess explained. " It came with a card saying _You like to drive right?"_  
  
"Hey, hulla girls are very nice." Lorelai rationalized. "Anyways, maybe it's time to get dressed now. I've got to go to work." 

"Yeah. I've got to brush my teeth." Rory agreed as she walked away. 

"And I've got to get out of these monkey pajamas." Paris quipped in as she watched Jess give her an interested look. "Well not with you looking!" 

"Jess, are you coming in?" Lorelai asked him nonchalantly. "I mean you are my coffee slave for a day so…" 

"Fine! But let the records say that I'm doing this under protest." Jess insisted. 

"Duly noted." Lorelai replied as she nodded her head. "Now get your ass in the kitchen. I need more coffee!" 

"You just had some!" Jess argued as he pointed to the cup in her hand.  
  
"Well if I'm going to have a guy giving me coffee all day, I'm sure as hell going to use it to my full advantage." Lorelai pointed out. "How often in life does one get a coffee slave? Not often enough my friend, not often enough." 

"Whatever," Jess scowled as he walked in the door. "but I'm telling you right now the coffee's gonna taste like decaf." 

**** 

"How come you guys can eat like this every single day?" Paris asked as she watched Lorelai and Rory begin to devour their breakfasts in an instant, just seconds after Luke served it to them.  
  


"This?" Lorelai asked between mouthfuls as she pointed to the eggs, bacon and pancakes on her plate. "This is nothing. You should have seen us at Thanksgiving." 

"Last year, we went to four Thanksgivings." Rory explained as she chew on her bacon. "Well, actually three if you don't count my grandma's house." 

"Three?" Paris said in astonishment. "I can't even eat through one Thanksgiving dinner without feeling sick. Juice and cereal's enough for me. If you want to get real fancy maybe a bagel, some fruit or a muffin but pancakes are pushing it." 

"But they're so good." Rory protested as she waved a piece of pancake on her fork around. "Just try it." 

"No thanks." Paris exclaimed. "See? I'm already eating a grapefruit._ Yum_." As she pointed to the pink grapefruit she had in front of her sprinkled with a little sugar. 

"Grapefruit? Ha!" Lorelai intervene as she scoffed at the fruit. "That isn't breakfast." 

"Don't argue with them." Luke interjected as he walked by the table to serve his other customers. "They'd eat junk food forever if they could. Breakfast is the only sort of nutritious food they get in a day. They don't get fruit like we do." But then he stopped in his tracks when he saw the sugar on the grapefruit. "Geez! You're not supposed put sugar on it! It takes away from its real taste!" 

"But it's too sour." Paris argued. "It tastes much better with the sugar." 

"But come on! Sugar?" Luke moaned as he pointed to the sugar.  
  


"Let her eat her grapefruit in peace Luke." Lorelai said in Paris' defense. "She's still much healthier than we are." 

"Don't let me get started on you two." Luke said as he pointed to Rory and Lorelai. "Both of you are a lost cause." 

"Thank you!" Lorelai said with a prissy voice and then looked over to her coffee cup. "Hey coffee boy! Need a refill!" 

"No need to holler! I can hear you fine from here!" Jess replied as he walked over to her. "Hey, this coffee cup is half full!" 

"And I say it's half empty." Lorelai said with a smirk. "Just keep it coming and be quiet." 

"Nope. No can do." Luke interjected as he walked over to them. 

"Oh come on Luke!" Jess protested as he gave Luke a glaring stare. "You can't be serious…" 

"What?" Rory asked as she watched the commotion unfolding in front of her. "What do you have to do?" 

"He didn't tell you this?" Luke said with a smile. "Figures. The kid who paid for Jess ordered that whenever he pours you a cup of coffee, he has to…hehe…sing a Christmas song." As he said through stifled laughs. 

"A song?" Lorelai said, compeletely amazed. "This just keeps getting better and better…well, Jess, start singing." 

"what?!" Jess cried out, "That's it! I'm done!" as he started to march away. 

"No, no, no." Luke replied as he blocked Jess and pushed him back. "You're not going to chicken out of this one unless you know what's good for you. Now start singing." 

"You're sick, you know that." Jess said with a scowl. "Fine…jingle bells, jingle bells." He began to whisper. 

"I can't hear you." Lorelai said as she pretended not to hear. "Can you hear something?" 

"Nope I don't think so." Rory said with a smile. 

"Me neither." Paris added as she looked over at Jess, who was giving her a desperate look. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost. 

"Sing it louder." Luke ordered. "And with feeling please." 

"FINE! '_Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way. Oh much fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh_' satisfied?" Jess said as he sang it as quickly as possible. 

"Hey Rory, Lorelai, Paris." Dean exclaimed as he walked into the diner and towards their table. 

"What's going on?" As he looked over at Jess, still wearing the santa hat. 

"Fuck!" Jess exclaimed as he saw Dean walk in. 

"Hey Dean! Do you want see Jess sing?" Lorelai said with a smile. "Come on, sing it again Jess." 

"No fucking way." Jess exclaimed. "One song per cup of coffee. That's it." 

Lorelai then proceeded to gulp down her big coffee cup and then wiped her lips. "Refill please. Maybe you could sing 'Feliz Navidad' next." 

"How about 'Deck the Halls' Jess?" taunted Dean as he sat down at their table. 

"Oh my god! I can't believe you drank it all!" Jess looked at her with disgust and then he looked over at Dean "You must be loving every moment of this. Could my life get any worse?!" 

"YOU!" Taylor yelled as he burst in, pointing his finger furiously at Jess. 

"What the hell did I do now?" Jess said in annoyance as he turned around to face Taylor. 

"You're the hoodlum that sent them to my house!" Taylor accused, still pointing his finger straight in Jess' face. "I know it!" 

"Sent who to your house?" Jess asked. 

"Those kids with the skateboards." Taylor explained. "Just as I was about to exit my house, what do I see but a bunch of long haired street hustlers from out of nowhere starts setting up camp right there and skating up and down the block." 

"What does that have to do with me?" Jess demanded, as Luke, Lorelai, Dean, Rory and Paris tried their hardest to conceal their laughter. 

"The whole thing just wreaks of you. When I asked them what was the meaning of this, they told me some kid gave them some money to skate there… they even wrote: _To Taylor, from your Secret Santa_ with chalk all over the road. They graffitied the street for goodness sakes!" Taylor cried out. 

"First of all, did they give you a description of said kid? And second of all, it's chalk for god's sakes- it'll wash away!" Jess replied with equal annoyance. 

"When I asked them for a description, they couldn't remember. Probably because they were all high out of their minds from narcotics or something." Taylor rationalized. "But I know you did it. I just know it. The stunt you pulled with the police tape and now this? Give me a break and just confess!" 

"Face it Taylor, you've got nothing! You just want to pin this on me because you're pissed off that your Secret Santa is a jerk off." Jess yelled back. "Well, I'm sorry to say but that jerk off ain't me!" 

"Taylor, just lay off of him, will ya?" Luke said rationally, as he finally stopped laughing. "You've got nothing on him alright! This is a place of business! If you want to take this up with him, I suggest you two take it outside." 

"I'm done here." Jess said, as he walked away from the scene and stormed into the kitchen. 

"Don't defend that hoodlum nephew of yours!" Taylor cried out as he pointed to Luke. "You know he's been trouble ever since he got here. Need I remind you of all the damage he has caused in the past? I mean, who else do you think would have stolen police tape just laying about?" 

"I don't need to defend Jess cuz you don't have anything." Luke exclaimed clearly getting pissed. "Now if you don't have any solid proof he did any of it, I suggest you leave this instant!" 

"But Luke!" Taylor insisted.  
  


"Get out, get out, get out!" Luke demanded, as he shoved Taylor out the door. 

"Mark my words Luke, this is going to be taken up judiciously at the next town meeting, you'll be sure of that!" Taylor exclaimed. "He's ruining the spirit of Christmas, I'm telling you!" 

As Taylor stormed away, he accidentally bumped into a FedEX delivery guy, obviously frazzled by the whole commotion. 

"Is this Luke's Diner?" the delivery guy said timidly, frightened by Luke's menacing appearance. 

"Yeah." Luke replied. "I'm sorry about the commotion." 

"Is there anyone here by the name of Lukas Danes?" he asked quietly. 

"Yes, I'm Luke Danes." Luke answered, puzzled by the FedEx guy's appearance. 

"Could you sign here please?" he said, as he pulled out a small clipboard. 

As Luke took the clipboard, the delivery guy scanned the package and then handed it to Luke. 

"Thanks, I think." Luke replied, as the delivery guy quickly scurried away, trying to get into his truck as fast as possible. 

"Hey Luke!" Lorelai cried out as she jumped out of her seat and got closer to him. "What do you think is inside huh? Maybe it's a bomb sent by Taylor." 

"It's not ticking so that's probably not the case." Luke said as Lorelai crowded around him. "Just give me some space will ya?" 

"Come on, open it!" Lorelai pleaded as she jumped up and down with anticipation. 

"Yeah, Luke, open it!" Rory chimed in. 

"Will you cool your jets for a second?" Luke exclaimed as he look at the two of them. "Can't you see I'm trying to open it?" 

As Luke struggled with the wrapping, Lorelai grabbed it from his hands and mauled at it in two seconds flat. "There!" 

"Yeesh, you're impatient." Luke responded as he looked at Lorelai. As he opened it up, he 

groaned. "What the hell is this about?" 

"Oh my god!" Lorelai squealed. "Rory, it's a William Shatner t-shirt!" as she held up an iron-on t-shirt with a picture of William Shatner as Captain Kirk sprawled across it. 

"No way!" Rory said with amazement, with a bewildered Dean and Paris looking on. 

"Ah geez!" Luke continued as he looked at what was left in the box, and handed it to Lorelai. 

"Hey it's the return of Butch Danes." Lorelai exclaimed as she held up the picture of Luke in high school. 

"Butch Danes?" Dean quipped in, clearly confused by it. 

"So that's Butch Danes!" Paris exclaimed as she took a glance at the photo. "my, are those really short shorts." 

"Hey! I think I've seen this picture before." Dean added as he squinted to get a closer look. "This was you?" 

"Don't ask." Luke said with a scowl. 

"Isn't it an ad of some sort?" Rory asked, as looked at the writing on it.  
  


"MISSING," Lorelai read outloud between giggles. "My dignity. If found please call 555-4231" as she scrolled down the page, she noticed more writing. "this poster was brought to you by Luke's Secret Santa. Enjoy!" 

"**JESS!!!!**" Luke cried out from the top of his lungs. 

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Jess yelled back from inside the kitchen. 

**** 

"What did you get Jackson?" Lorelai asked as she sat on the stool, talking to Sookie. 

"I got him a Santa suit, with the beard, boots and everything." Sookie replied in her usual cheerful giggle, as she continued to stir the soup that she was preparing. "You should have seen the look on his face, he was so happy." 

"So what are you getting him next Secret Santa?" Lorelai asked with a smile. 

"I got some sexy red lingerie." Sookie said suggestively. "And I thought that I could and then he could put on the Santa suit and I could pretend to be Mrs. Claus and then…" 

"Okay, too much information there Sookie." Lorelai said as she pretended to cover her eyes. "And he doesn't even know it's you?" 

"He doesn't suspect a thing. He's too busy shopping around for Morey's gift. He's been searching around everywhere for some cool jazz sheet music for Morey to play on the piano." Sookie said with satisfaction as she took a taste from the soup and then directed to Lorelai. "Taste please." 

As Lorelai took a taste from the spoon, the expression on Lorelai's face was all that was needed. "It's perfection once again Sook." 

"Thanks." Sookie answered with a smile. "So what are you going to get your special someone huh?" she said with a wink. 

"Oh don't you worry. It's all taken care of." Lorelai said as she nodded knowingly. "Oh almost forgot. Hey Jess!" she yelled towards the doorway. "Need more coffee?" 

"You hollered?" Jess replied as he walked into the kitchen. 

"You know what to do." Lorelai said simply as she pointed to the coffee cup. 

"What is this, your thousandth cup?" Jess said as he looked at the empty cup. "Do you ever let up woman? I mean, you do realize I'm wasting my whole day just bored out of my mind, waiting on you. And if I have to hear Michel bitch one more time…" 

"Less talk, more pouring." Lorelai ordered, ignoring Jess' complaints. 

"ooh, ooh, ooh." Sookie exclaimed as she got excited. "You're going to sing again aren't you? Can we sing to lead you in?" 

"We could be your backup singers." Lorelai suggested cheerfully. 

"No thanks, can I just get it over wi.."Jess replied. 

"It'll be fun." Sookie said with a giggle as she nudged Lorelai. "Come on Lorelai…one two three." 

" '_Dashing through the snow, in one horse open sleigh,"_ Sookie and Lorelai sang cheerfully, making hand gestures as they sang. '_over the fields we go, laughing all the way, ha ha ha" _

"Oh crap…" Jess sighed as he shook his head, looking down in embarrassment as the assistant chefs around the kitchen started to stare and laugh. "will you guys just stop it." He muttered under his breath. 

" '_tails on bobtails ring, making spirits bright,"_ Sookie and Lorelai continued, ignoring him completely as they got into it even more. " '_what fun it is to laugh and sing this sleighing song tonight oh…." _They dragged the last note as they waited for Jess to chime in. 

"Don't look at me." Jess said as he shook his head. "I'm not going to make a complete ass of myself again." 

"Oh you're no fun." Sookie replied, as she gestured Bob to come and prepare the soup for presentation. 

"Talk to me about fun after you've spent half a day wearing this stupid hat," Jess said as he pointed to the santa hat still on his head. " and tailing her around. It's not pretty." As he was about to leave, he looked over at Lorelai and stopped. "Weren't you wearing something else before?" 

"Yeah I changed." Lorelai replied as she looked down to her red ensemble. 

"Expecting someone?" Jess suggested. 

"You could say that." Lorelai exclaimed, a bit hesistant with the answer. 

"When is he getting here?" Sookie asked as she looked at Lorelai. 

"Anytime now." Lorelai answered, as she looked at her watch. 

"There's that annoying man outside looking for you." Michel exclaimed with a smug look on his face as he suddenly appeared. 

"He's here." Lorelai said as she bit her lip. 

"Who?" Jess asked as he looked at Michel. 

" If he wasn't so boring and utterly repugnant, maybe I would remember." Michel replied as he began to walk away. "Just get him away from me. He's making me nauseous." 

"Fine." Lorelai answered as she began to exit the kitchen. 

"Good luck on your 'date'." Sookie mocked. 

"Shh Sookie!" Lorelai whispered as she motioned Sookie to pipe down. This was already hard enough as it is. 

"So who's lucky guy huh?" Jess asked, as he followed behind her and then stopped, mouth wide open, blinking his eyes to see if he was dreaming. "You've got to be kidding me…Him?" 

"If you don't shut up right now, you're going to be pouring coffee and singing all day." Lorelai muttered in a threatening tone as she elbowed him hard in the stomach. "Hey Kirk." 

"Hey Lorelai." Kirk replied, as he walked closer to her, grasping his trophy tight in his hands. "I got a message that you wanted to see us." 

"Yeah Kirk." Lorelai said nervously. _I can't believe I let Rory talk me into this. _"Your Secret Santa wanted to surprise you. Surprise! Today you're having lunch with me." 

"Lunch with you?" he repeated as he looked at Lorelai. "My Secret Santa actually convinced you to go on date with me?" 

"Not a date Kirk." Lorelai explained, trying not to sound mean. "Just lunch as friends." 

"You say tomato and I say tomaato," Kirk replied. "As long as I get a free lunch, it's fine with me." 

"Great." Lorelai replied as she gestured him towards the dining room, as Jess watched from afar. 

"You're my Secret Santa right?" Kirk whispered to Lorelai. "You don't have to pretend anymore." 

"Sorry Kirk." Lorelai replied. "I'm just here as a present capacity." 

"Hey Lorelai." Jess cried out. "Mistletoe." He then pointed at the mistletoe that hung above them. 

"Darn, I forgot that was there." Lorelai said as she looked up towards the ceiling and then gave Jess an evil scowl. _Damn him. _Then she looked at Kirk, who was eagerly awaiting his kiss. She then had no choice but to move closer and peck him quickly on the cheek. 

"Wow." Kirk replied as he touched his cheek. "A free lunch and a kiss? My Secret Santa rocks." As began to walk again, he whispered to Lorelai. "you're hot for me aren't you?" 

"Kirk…" Lorelai answered as she followed him. 

**** 

As Rory and Paris sat on the couch, playing crazy eight countdown just for the heck of it, they chattered on incessantly. 

"So what did Dean tell you?" Paris asked as she placed down a card. "Did he like what I got him?" 

"Of course! He loved the Special Edition DVD of 'The Lord of the Rings' " Rory insisted. "Now if you can get him preview tickets to the last one, you're set." She reminded her. "I know he'd kill to see it. Last card." 

"You think?" Paris asked, still uncertain. 

"Absolutely." Rory replied, as she put down her last card. "I won." 

"Oh crap." Paris exclaimed as she looked her hand. " I had two left. Two left!" 

"Touch luck." Rory answered as she gathered up the cards. 

"So," Paris asked with a questioning look. "Who do you think is your secret santa?" 

"I have no idea." Rory admitted. "I just know that they have some weird fascination with my love life." 

"Maybe it's Jess or Dean." Paris suggested in a half mocking tone. "Maybe they both realize how great you are and want you back." 

"No way." Rory scoffed as she looked at Paris. "Dean and I are so old news and Jess… well everybody thinks that Jess is their Secret Santa so I don't think he has room for more." 

"You never know." Paris insisted. "I mean, come on, everybody falls in love with you. They can't seem to get enough of your doe-eyed, helpless, innocent girl look you have." 

"Oh come on." Rory answered back as she heard the phone ring. "Guys like you too." 

"Yeah sure." Paris said with a laugh. "that's really accurate considering I have no boyfriend to speak of and you have, well, you have Tristan." 

"You'll find somebody." Rory replied as she picked up the phone. "Don't sell yourself short." As she heard the voice on the other line, Rory began to smile. "Hi! I've missed you!" 

"Speak of the devil." Paris said with a shrug, as the doorbell began to ring frantically and Rory quickly became preoccupied by Tristan's phone call to notice. "I'll get that." 

She walked slowly to the door, shaking her head. When she opened it, there was no one there. 

"AREN'T WE MATURE!" she yelled as she looked around the porch. Then as she was about to close the door, she noticed a large plastic Tupperware laid out on the floor with a little card with her name clearly scribbled on it. She picked it up and curiously wondered what it was. "_Couldn't find sour cream or applesauce so you're on your own with that. From your secret santa_" she read. She opened it up and gasped at the contents of it. "Latkes!" she exclaimed. She hadn't one in so long and now here they are, so many of them stacked up one on top of the other. She walked out onto the porch, holding onto the still warm plastic container in her arms, looking all around to see if her secret santa was still lurking about. As she turned her head all around, all that she could see was Babette, standing on her own porch. 

"Babette, did you see anybody out here?" Paris asked. 

"I'm sorry sugar, I just got outside a minute ago and I didn't see anybody." Babette replied. "What have you got there honey?" 

"A present from my Secret Santa." Paris replied. 

"That's nice." Babette replied sweetly. "You can't go wrong with Tupperware. Morey got some new music to play and I got a membership to a fruit of the month club." 

"Great." Paris said. "Well, it's getting cold out here so goodnight." 

"Night sweetheart." Babette cried out as she waved goodbye. 

As Paris politely walked away and closed the door, she could still hear Rory chattering away on the phone from her room. She then walked into the kitchen, wondering where to put the latkes. As she sat down at the kitchen table, she smiled quietly to herself and wonder what her Secret Santa was going to send her next. 

TO BE CONTINUED. 


	5. PART V SURPRISE!

Title: Secret Santa Stars Hollow Style 

Feedback: Yes please. 

Summary: After their first term at Harvard, Rory invites Paris to stay in Stars Hollow for the Christmas Break, smack dab in the middle of the town's first Secret Santa Christmas celebration. Craziness ensues as everyone (especially Lorelai) tries to figure out who's their Secret Santa.

Spoilers: Everything up till _Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving_. 

Rating: PG-13 

Pairings: definite possibilities for Paris/Jess, Luke/Lorelai, and other ships. 

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from _Gilmore Girls_

***NOTE***: _**Thanks to all of you who have been reading this GG fanfic loyally and have been excited for it. I especially appreciate the reviews and the guesses that people have been making (I won't say either it's right or wrong but I love them! Just you wait and see!)**_

_** I know it's an odd thing for this fic to be a kind of townie fanfic because there aren't that many out there. I just try my best to include everyone because they are the ones that make the show great. Also, I've notice some reviews about the Paris/Jess pairing. Even though this is an ensemble fanfic, it still has pairings and I just happen to really love the idea of Paris and Jess especially in fanfic so please keep reading it even if you are devoted Literati fans. I just needed to write this my way. That includes UC pairings. As you can see from this chapter especially, this is blatantly obvious. But as I say, anything goes with my stories, so just sit back and enjoy. There's only one more chapter left! **_

****

PART V – SURPRISE!

"It's wonderful to see you again Paris." Emily exclaimed with a smile as she looked over at Paris from across the dining room table. "It's always nice to have guests over." 

"I second that." Richard replied as he smiled at Paris. For some reason or another, the moment he met Rory's classmate Paris, he had this immediate kindship with the young girl. It was odd but she reminded him of when he was a teenager: Eager and ambitious. " When Rory was accepted at Harvard, we were so happy but we were a bit concerned that she would be so far away from home. However, our spirits lifted when we realized that she would at least know one familiar face." 

"Thank you Richard." Paris replied, as she nodded politely to him. "And thank you Mrs. Gilmore for inviting me to dinner. I hope it wasn't an inconvenience." 

"Nonsense. You are always welcome at our home." Emily replied. "And please call me Emily." 

"Don't worry Paris." Lorelai added between mouthfuls. "After having me as a daughter, they'd welcome you with open arms." 

"Lorelai!" Emily exclaimed. Couldn't she behave herself for once? "We have company." 

"What's the big deal mother?" Lorelai said with a questioning smirk. "She's been living with us for a week now. I think she's grown accustomed to our habits." 

"Oh God, I had forgotten about that." Emily sighed as she looked over at Paris. "I am so sorry you've had to live with her this whole time. You're a brave girl." 

"Hey!" Lorelai protested. 

"It's not that bad." Paris replied with an awkward smile. Although she had slowly grown accustomed to Lorelai's and Rory's eating habits, she wasn't too comfortable with their family dynamics yet although this was a millions times better than the family chaos at her house. "My Christmas break has been great so far. Actually it's been exactly what I needed after those grueling midterms." 

"How were your exams Rory?" Emily asked as she looked over to her granddaughter who hadn't spoken much. "Were they very difficult?" 

"I'm sure she handled it fine Emily." Richard exclaimed. "She's always been able to keep up with her studies." 

"I know Richard." Emily said with a sigh. "I just would like to ask Rory that question since she's been so silent tonight." 

"I'm fine grandma." Rory insisted as she smiled at her grandmother. "The exams were hard but I think both Paris and I came out of it relatively unscathed." 

"Yeah she's fine mom." Lorelai added. "So just relax and let her eat in peace." 

"Fine." Emily replied as she paused for a moment and then began again. "Are you going to be here on Christmas." 

"Yes mother, we will be here for Christmas dinner like you asked." Lorelai answered as she slightly rolled her eyes. "It'll be great." 

"That's good." Richard added as he nodded his head with approval. "It'll be nice to have the family together." 

"The family's together now." Lorelai remarked. 

"I know that Lorelai." Richard remarked firmly. "You don't have to state the obvious. I just thought it would be nice to be together as much as we can seeing as Rory is home and it's Christmas." 

"Oh." Lorelai said simply. 

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?" Emily asked plainly as she took another bite of her salmon. 

"Well… it's nothing." Lorelai answered quickly.  
  


"Nothing? How could you be doing nothing on Christmas eve and when you have house guest no less?" Emily responded as she couldn't believe her ears. 

"Actually grandma, the town's going to have a big Christmas celebration at night to end our town Secret Santa thing." Rory exclaimed as she looked over at Emily. 

"Secret Santa? What Secret Santa thing?" Emily asked, clearly puzzled. 

"The townspeople wrote their names in a basket and we each picked out a name and got them gifts throughout the week. And tomorrow we find out who was our mystery Secret Santa." Explained Paris. 

"That sounds exciting." Emily said with fascination. "Doesn't that sound exciting Richard?" 

"And intriguing idea." Richard answered as he went back to eating his salmon. 

"So Rory, Paris, do you have any idea who has been sending you gifts?" Emily asked with a smile.  
  


"Well I have no idea who's been sending me my gifts but I have a hunch on who is Paris' Secret Santa is." Rory said with a wink. 

"Who?" Paris asked, as she herself was clueless on the matter. 

"Jess silly." Rory exclaimed. 

"What? That's impossible Rory!" Paris replied with astonishment. 

"Jess as in your old boyfriend Rory?" Emily asked. "Are you still friends with that boy?"  
  


"Yes grandma, we're still friends." Rory answered back and then looked over at Paris. "As for Jess being your Secret Santa, come on! Don't you think that there's a chance that Jess could be your Secret Santa?" 

"There is no possible way." Paris insisted as she looked over to Lorelai for support. "Tell her that it isn't true. It can't be true, it just can't!" 

"I'm sorry honey but I've got to side with Rory on this one." Lorelai said with a shrug. "It's definitely a possibility." 

"Traitor." Paris said with smug look on her face 

"And guess who mom is convinced has her grandma." Rory said with a devilish smile. 

"Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed as she motioned her to keep quiet. 

"She thinks Luke's been sending her all of her gifts." Rory exclaimed, ignoring her mother's protests. 

"Luke as in the man who runs the diner?" Emily said, riveted to say the least. "Why is that Lorelai?" 

"I don't know. All the clues point to him I guess." Lorelai explained with a sigh. " The candy, the coffee, and who else would know me well enough to send me a tape of E! True Hollywood Story on _Saved by the Bell_?"

"_Saved by the Bell_?" Richard whispered as he leaned over to Paris. 

"It's an old tv show." Paris whispered back. 

"Thank you." Richard replied with a smile. 

"God, I don't even want to ask you about that one!" Emily said, clearly finding her social references completely strange. But as she went about concentrating on her supper, a knowing smile could be found on her face. 

"What mom…" Lorelai exclaimed as she noticed immediately that look on her mother's face. "Aren't you going to say 'I told you so'." 

"I didn't say a thing Lorelai." Emily replied without so looking at Lorelai once, as she concentrated on her meal. 

"But you want to." Lorelai insisted. "I can see on your face.. Yes, I think that Luke is my Secret Santa. But that's it! How many times do I have to tell you that we're just friends?" 

"I don't think screaming at grandma is going to convince her." Rory observed. 

"Eh!" Lorelai scoffed as she pointed at Rory. "You. Not helping the situation here." 

"I'm just sayin'." Rory replied as she clamed up. 

"You can rant and rave all you want Lorelai." Emily said plainly, not ever looking up once. "I'm not saying anything except to say that I'm not going to be surprised if I see an impromptu wedding ceremony at a diner in your near future. And I'll be expecting that invitation in the mail too." 

"Argh!" Lorelai cried out in frustration, as Emily still continued to eat calmly from across the table. 

**** 

Rory laid flat on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She had just woken up but hadn't either moved or made a sound since she woke. She was too busy bundling herself up from the cold. She wasn't exactly sure but there was a big chance that the moment when she ever decided to move from this very spot on her bed that she would be freezing and regret ever waking up in the first place. Heck, she was already regretting being awake. She was in the middle of a great dream involving Tristan and now she couldn't remember it although she knew it was good. As she was about to close her eyes and try to remember again, a voice interrupted her thoughts. 

"Rory, are you awake?" Paris asked. 

"Yeah." 

"I can't move." 

"Me either." 

"It's too cold." 

"I'm with you on that one." 

"You do realize that sooner or later we'll have to get out of bed, right?" Paris observed. 

"Yeah I know." 

"So who's going to get up first?" 

"I nominate you." 

"Hell no! Why don't you get up first?" 

"Because I'm colder than you are…" 

"Are not!" 

"Are too!" 

After arguing for a few rounds, finally, out of frustration, Paris threw her blanket across the room and stomped out of the bed. 

"Yeah, I won." 

"Dream on Rory!" Paris answered back as she walked towards the living room. "I just got out of bed because I chose to. Doesn't count." She then let out a surprised gasp as she peered outside the window. "Rory! There's snow on the ground and tons of it." 

"What?" Rory exclaimed as she jumped out of bed immediately and stared out of her bedroom window. "Wow, Snow! It's almost like a Christmas miracle," as she continued to stare at the incredible amount of snow that covered everything. 

"Um..Rory." Paris said with hesitance. 

"What Paris?" Rory asked her absentmindedly, still mesmorized. 

"Why is Lorelai making snow angels on the lawn?" Paris asked, as she didn't quite believing what was before her eyes. 

"Oh my god! The snow!" Rory exclaimed in realization as she sped towards the door, grabbing her coat and stepping into her shoes in the process. She flung the front door wide open and ran towards the steps. At least the steps which wasn't completely engulfed by snow. 

"Mom! What are you doing?" 

As she looked around the snow covered lawn, suddenly Lorelai sat up, her cap covered head popped right out from underneath the snow. 

"Hey honey!" she said breathlessly. 

"Yeah mom." Rory said as she looked at all the snow angels sprawled out in front of their house. "Are you having fun?" 

"Come on Rory." Lorelai replied as she played around in the snow with her mittens. "You know what snow does to me." 

"It makes you completely crazy and you lose all sense of reality." Rory replied, arms crossed because she was still in her pajama pants. 

"I mean, it was snowing yesterday but I had no idea we'd have so much snow!" Lorelai explained. "Rory, something's going to happen today. I can smell it." 

"And of course, only you and maybe dogs can smell this." Rory explained she rolled her eyes. "It's so funny that the only day you wake up early is a snow day." 

"Yup, it's the only day there's a reason to." Lorelai replied as she stood up, wiping the snow from her jeans and then picking up a small amount of snow in her mittens. "I'm telling you Rory, it's going to be a magical day." And then she threw the snowball right at Rory. 

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed as it hit her coat at her shoulder. "That's so not funny." As she began to walk inside. 

"Oh come on Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed as she followed her in. "It's just a joke…it's just the snow…" 

**** 

As Paris, Rory and Lorelai walked towards Luke's, they watched as the town was preparing its decorations, all being organized by a frantic Taylor running around, calling all the shots. 

"Wow Taylor's going all out this year." Rory exclaimed as she looked at all the lights that were being put up. 

"I've never seen such a big Christmas Tree up close before." Paris added as she looked at the tree that was place beside the gazebo. "Wow, is that Kirk hanging lights on the tree?" She pointed to Kirk, who had gotten up to hang more lights on the tree with a crane that lifted beside it. 

"Wow. It looks like he's getting tangled in them." Rory observed as accidentally wrapped himself around with the lights. And what was worse was that the more he tried to untangle himself, the worse it got. 

"Taylor!" Kirk cried out from above. "I need a little help here!" 

"Hey Taylor, how's everything going?" Lorelai asked as she approached Taylor, who looked like he was about to cry. "Are you okay?" 

"It's fine, just fine!" Taylor replied a little too defensively. 

"Taylor you've got to relax." Lorelai said calmly. "It's Christmas Eve. You shouldn't be miserable."

"It's just that I planned this all so very carefully with the lights, and the tree and the sleigh rides." Taylor exclaimed as he watched Kirk struggle to get his attention. "But nothing's going as planned. The sleigh is late, the band I hired is missing and look!" As he pointed to the tree. "Even the tree hasn't finished." 

"TAYLOR! LORELAI! RORY! ANYBODY!" Kirk cried out again as he slipped in the crane. 

"In a minute Kirk!" Taylor yelled back, as the fact that Kirk was in a bit of a pickle was the last of his worries. "I'm telling you Lorelai, it's that no good nephew of Luke's that secretly sabotaging this. I know it's Jess, I just know it! Him with the police tape, the stoned kids, and now this! He probably kidnapped my band!" 

"Slow down Taylor." Lorelai continued with a calming voice. "We need to stop with this Jess paranoia and focus. This isn't half bad. So the sleighs are a little late. We won't be using them until later. And the band, well you could call them and if it doesn't pan out then we can go without the band. Now I think what you should do right now is get Kirk down here so we can untangle him okay?" 

"Fine." Taylor sulked. "But I'm telling you… that hoodlum kid is out to ruin my Christmas and I'm telling you this now. He's not getting the better of me!" 

"Good!" Lorelai replied as she patted Taylor on the back. "Now we've got to save Kirk." 

"For the love of God, could somebody please let me out of here!" Kirk moaned from the box on the crane. 

**** 

"Hey mom." Rory asked as she walked closer to Lorelai. "So now that you figure that Luke is your Secret Santa, what are you going to do now?" 

"Yeah? Are you going to tell him that you know or are you just going to pretend like nothing changed?" Paris asked. 

"Just relax will ya." Lorelai said with amusement at the curious looks that both Rory and Paris were giving her. "Let me say that I've got some plans, but you two have got to quit it with the questions cause we're getting to the diner now and I don't want him to suspect a thing, okay? We've got to play it cool, right?" 

"Okay." Rory agreed as Paris nodded.

"Hey you guys," Luke replied as they all scrambled into the diner. "I've saved you a table and ordered you two some waffles. And Paris, you can have grapefruit or cereal or oatmeal if you want." 

"Waffles!" Rory said with glee. 

"My, my" Lorelai replied with a terrible southern accent. "What hospitality!" as she sat down at her chair. 

"Mom." Rory whispered as she nudged Lorelai. "I thought you were going to play it cool." 

"Well can't I have some fun in the process?" Lorelai replied as she started batted her eyelashes at Luke and smiled like a Southern Belle. 

"Whatever, but I don't think he's getting your so-called subtlety." Rory whispered as she secretly pointed at Luke, who was giving them weird looks as he brought out the waffles. 

"Here are your waffles." Luke exclaimed as he looked at Lorelai, who was still batting her eyes as well as perch her chin on her hand, as if she was gazing at him. 

"Why thank you sir." Lorelai said sweetly as he placed the plate in front of her. 

"Mom! Look at the waffles! They have powdered sugar on them shaped like snowflakes!" Rory exclaimed with glee. "Thanks Luke!" 

"Yeah you're welcome." Luke said sort of absentmindedly as he still stared at Lorelai and then looked towards Rory. "What the hell is the matter with your mom today? She's acting weirder than usual." as he looked towards Lorelai. "Do you an eye twitch or something." With those words, Lorelai's expression changed back to normal as she began to frown slightly. 

"It's just the snow Luke." Rory said with a smile, trying to cover for Lorelai. "You know how she gets this time of year." 

"She gets even more crazier than usual." Luke agreed, remembering the effect that snow has on Lorelai. "I can't believe I'm saying this but I'll get you some coffee. Maybe it'll bring you back to your senses." 

"Whohoo!" Lorelai said in her usual tone. "You better get me a big cup Luke cuz you never know what crazy, whacked out things I might do." 

"And you Paris?" He asked Paris as she sat there silently while smiling at Lorelai. "What will you be having today." 

"I think I'm going to be adventurous and go with the waffles as well." Paris replied as both Rory and Lorelai cheered. "I mean, hell, you only live once." 

"Not you too!" Luke said with a disappointed sigh. "See, I knew it was not good for you to be shaking up with those two. Sooner or later, you'll be exactly like them." 

"Yup! She's come and joined the dark side where sugar, coffee and junk food rule." Lorelai replied. "Come on Luke, join the dark force." She said in a low voice. 

"Ugh. I'm leaving before you taint me too." Luke said as he began to walk away. "I'll get you your waffles Paris." 

"Come on Luke!" Lorelai cried out. "Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader… or maybe you want to be Hans Solo." 

"I'm not listening to you anymore!" Luke cried out from the kitchen. 

"I think you've annoyed him more than you've attempted to flirt with him." Rory observed with a mouth full of waffles drenched in syrup. 

"It was worth a try." Lorelai explained as Jess appeared and came towards them. "Hey Paris, maybe you can ask him if he's been lurking about the house late at night being a door to door latkes salesman." 

"Quiet!" Paris hissed. "He's coming!" 

"Hey." Jess said as he nodded at Lorelai and Rory and then looked over at Paris. 

"Hey." Paris replied as casually as she possibly could be. 

"Hey Jess…"Rory asked nonchalantly as she looked at Paris, who looked mortified. "Where were you Wednesday night? You wouldn't have happened to be near our house by any chance were you cuz me and Paris were at home and we were going to call you to come hang out with us." 

"Rory…"Paris mouthed from behind Jess. "I'm..going… to…kill… you" 

"You should have called. I would have come over." Jess replied as Rory started to smile. "But unfortunately, I was stuck here all night playing referee to those two!" as he pointed to Luke who was walking out of the kitchen with Paris' waffles and Lorelai, completely entranced by her waffles. 

"Whah?" Lorelai said with her mouthful. 

"Those two couldn't stop yapping and arguing all night." Jess exclaimed with a look of disgust. 

"Why don't you two just get a clue and get a room for goodness sakes!" 

"Hey!" Luke protested as he looked menacingly at Jess, who didn't budge an inch. "You watch your mouth." 

"Are you going to spank me uncle lukie?" Jess asked as he got into Luke's face. 

"What are they talking about?" Lorelai whispered. 

"Jess just told us he was stuck here on Wednesday night babysitting you and Luke." Rory explained as she looked over at Paris' slightly disappointed face. 

"Oh yeah. Sorry Paris." Lorelai said apologetically to Paris but then suddenly got the implications of what Rory had just said. "Hey!" as she pointed at Jess. But he didn't notice as Jess and Luke was already in a heated discussion. 

"How many times told you it's Luke!" Luke said angrily. 

"Well maybe I'd listen to you if you'd listen to me every once and while." Jess lashed back. 

"About what?" Luke asked with a glaring stare. 

"About what?! You… her…god, forget it!" Jess said as he gave up. If he couldn't see it by now, why bother? "I'm outta here" and then looked over at Rory and Paris. "I'll see you guys later okay?" As he marched back up to the apartment. 

"What Jess, what do you have to say huh?" Luke said angrily as he followed Jess. "Don't you walk away from me!" 

Jess just motioned Luke away from him as Luke stomped right behind him. 

**** 

"I'm sorry about Jess." Rory said apologetically as she walked with Paris. "I just really thought he was…" 

"It's fine Rory." Paris said with a shrug. " I mean I told you that I didn't believe it and I was right…" 

"I'm still sorry." Rory said. "But maybe you could still ask him out." 

"Rory." Paris said as gave Rory a look. "He's not interested in me. I can tell. And it's not like I'm interested in him either. We're so different." 

"But you both love books." Rory insisted. "And you don't have to be alike to like each other. Opposites attract you know. And I saw it. He likes you." 

"But come on Rory." Paris exclaimed. "You forgot about a little thing called reality. Even if hell freezes over and for some crazy reason he had the tiniest bit of interest in me, and I can't that ever happening but if it did, you forgot that the fact that he lives in New York and we live Boston. It would never work out." 

"Paris, you never know…" Rory said. 

"No Rory. Jess and I is something that will never happen. End of story." Paris said firmly. 

"Okay fine." Rory said, as she closed the book on the subject. "So do you still want to enter into the snowman building contest?" 

"Yeah, sure." Paris said with a smile. "It's not like there's so much you can do in Stars Hollow." 

"Okay. We'll just go get Lane and Dave." Rory suggested. "They should be finished their bible study at her house by now." 

"Yeah." Paris agreed. 

"Mom?" Rory called back at Lorelai who just came out of Luke's. "We're just going to Lane's house to get her and Dave so we can enter the snowman building contest okay?" 

"Sure honey." Lorelai replied as she motioned them to go on without her. "I'm just going to see if Doose's is still open. I want to buy some candy canes other stuff to tide over tomorrow. If we're going to my parents' house tomorrow, I think I'm going to need a lot of spiked eggnog to tide me over." 

"Mom." Rory gave her mother a look. "We'll meet ya later, okay?" 

"I won't get that much eggnog I promise." Lorelai insisted as she waved at Rory and Paris as they walked away and then proceeded towards Doose's Market. As she walked in with her head down as she rummaged through her purse. SMACK! She ran right into someone. As she looked up she noticed it was Dean. 

"I'm sorry Dean!" Lorelai said apologetically as she touched his arm. "I didn't mean to run right into you. Are you okay?" 

"Yeah I'm fine." Dean said with a smile. "Just didn't expect to bump into here. Happy Christmas Eve, I guess."  
  


"Happy Christmas Eve to you too." Lorelai replied back as she wondered strangely at the saying. 

"Hey, why are you here anyways? Do you have work today?" 

"Not yet but eventually." Dean said with a sigh. "Taylor just wanted me to come to say that I have to close Doose's today." 

"On Christmas Eve? He's going to keep it open all day?" Lorelai said in shock. 

"Yeah, up until midnight." Dean explained. "Don't ask me the logic in that. I think he's going insane with what his Secret Santa been doing to him. He's been muttering all morning about looking out for Jess and I guess I can't blame him. If you think Jess is after you, then you do get a little paranoid." As he smiled. 

Lorelai smiled knowingly back to him. She was glad he was now able to joke about Jess, especially after the Jess and Rory ordeal that went on over a year ago. "Man, that must suck. Especially since you are going to miss most of the party outside later." 

"It's okay Lorelai. Really. I'll still make it for the Christmas Tree lighting and everything." Dean insisted. He always thought it was nice of her to be concerned for him even after he had broken up Rory. "It's not like I haven't experienced a Stars Hollow Christmas blowout before." 

"But this year's different. We have the Secret Santa thing." Lorelai said. "So have you figured out your Secret Santa yet?" she said with a wink. 

"No," Dean said as he looked at her strangely. "But from the look on your face, I'm guessing you know who it is. To whomever has been sending me these gifts, just tell them that they've been great and the gifts were awesome." 

"Will do." Lorelai said as she walked over to get a basket and started to pile boxes of candy canes in it. "I promise that you'll like who your Secret Santa is." 

"How about you?" Dean said curiously as he followed her around the store. "Have you figured out who your Secret Santa is?" 

"I've had my hunches and gone over several suspects thoroughly." Lorelai said as walked over to the fridges to get at the eggnog. "But between you and me I'm pretty sure it's Luke." 

"Wow." Dean replied as he helped to put in the eggnog into her basket. "You sound pretty convinced. How did you figure that one out?" 

"I just figured that the person who's been sending me these gifts must know me really well and once Jess showed up at my doorstep with that Santa hat, getting me coffee and singing Christmas songs, well that sealed it for me." Lorelai as she smiled. "I mean, that story about the little kid paying him to do it was so lame. Total cover story." 

"I guess Luke couldn't stump you." Dean said with a laugh. "Man, seeing Jess with that hat really made my day, I'm telling you." 

"Yeah it wasn't half bad for me either." Lorelai admitted, as she got closer to Dean. "Let's face it. It was the best present ever." 

"Well, if you see Luke later, tell him I said thanks for the Jess thing." Dean said with a smile. 

"I'll do that too." Lorelai said as she handed him her basket and pushed him. "Now help me find the rum will ya?"

**** 

"So what do you think?" Rory asked Paris, as she stood back from the snowman. "Do you think it looks like him yet?" 

"I don't know." Paris said as she stared at their creation. "Something's missing. I don't know. It still doesn't feel right. But look at theirs!" She pointed at Lane's and Dave's snowman. " I know I've only seen her once but it sure does look like her." 

"Yeah, it does." Rory agreed. "I mean, I know it's a snowman, but it sure does gives me the creeps with its realness." 

"Well, in this case, it's a snowwoman." Lane said as looked over Rory and then at Dave. "I mean we've got to be politically correct right?"  
  


"Anything you say sweetie." Dave said with a smile as he continued to pat down the snow. "But I must say that our snowm.. I mean snowwoman is turning out be pretty good. I mean, it really does look like your mom." 

"Yeah it does, doesn't it?" Lane said with smile as she took a step back to look at it. "I mean, she's even frowning and got that disapproving look on her face. Rory, can't you see it stirring the fear in hearts of Korean children everywhere?" 

"Yeah." Rory agreed as she stared at it further. "the Bible in her hands was a nice touch too." As she pointed at Dave's bible which rested against Snowwoman Mama Kim's arms, which they made it sturdy enough to hold it. "But the wig is the best. Where did you get it?" 

"From the beauty salon." Lane said with satisfaction. "I thought it would the _pièce de résistance _as they say." 

"What do you think your mom will say when sees it?" Paris asked as she looked at Lane. "From what I could see, she is not the most pleasant woman in the world, no offense." 

"None taken." Lane said with a smile. "She prides in instilling fear in everyone she meets. I think she'll find it a loving tribute to her. And if all else fails, Dave can sweet talk her to believe it. He can basically talk her into anything, within reason of course. Can ya, honey?" as she walked over to Dave and gave him a loving kiss. 

"She isn't that bad." Dave insisted as he smiled at her. 

"Well she isn't bad to you to because she actually likes you." Rory insisted. " I mean, she still thinks that my mom and I worship the devil. And you…you're…" 

"…the perfect Christian Korean boy minus the Korean." Lane said as she finished Rory's thought. 

"I don't know about you Rory but I think our snowman is totally going to beat the pants out of yours." 

"Don't be so sure." Rory said with a calculating stare. "If I'm not mistaken, our secret weapon has arrived." 

"Yup. Here he comes." Paris said as she smiled at Rory. 

"I can't believe you called me to come out for this." Jess said as he shook his head. 

"Hey no complaining." Rory ordered. "We needed you to give us what we needed for that extra leverage. I mean, Kirk's own snowman of himself is not half bad…" 

"What are you talking about?" Kirk exclaimed as he heard Rory's comment. "It looks just like me with the stare" as he pointed to the blank, serious stare he had created for his snowman, "the sweater and I even got him a mini statue just like mine." 

"It's good Kirk." Rory said apologetically as she nodded to him until he was satisfied by her apology and went back to working and then looked back at Jess. "And Lane's and Dave's…" 

"Holy fuck." Jess replied as he was taken aback by the snowwoman. "It looks so much like her, it's fucking creeping me out. Rory, face it. Theirs is totally going to win." 

"Well not if we can makes our better." Rory insisted. "I mean, did you get all the stuff we asked." 

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses will ya." Jess replied as he reached into the plastic bag that he carried. "It wasn't that easy to sneak this out of the diner, I'm telling you. Luke was watching me like a hawk after that blowout at the diner this morning." As he pulled out a baseball cap and a blue plaid shirt. 

"And we appreciate it." Rory replied as she looked at Paris. "Don't we Paris." 

"Thanks." Paris said simply as she gave Jess a small smile and he smiled back at her. 

"See? With the cap and the shirt, it's really starting to look like him." Rory said with smile as she place the cap on top of the snowman's head and began to drape the shirt around him as well. "I even think he's got that signature Luke Danes grumpy stare." 

"Wow." Lorelai exclaimed as she and Dean approached them. "That's so good babe. It really does look like Luke." And then she looked over at Lane's and Dave's snowwoman. "Oh my God, that's awesome you two. It's even scaring me." 

"Traitor." Rory replied, as she pretended to be hurt and then picked up some snow and proceeded to throw it at Lorelai.  
  


"Hey! What was that for?" Lorelai said as she looked at her coat. 

"What do you mean?" Rory said, incredulous that Lorelai couldn't remember. "Remember the snowball you threw at me this morning? Now we're even." 

And then Lorelai picked up some snow and threw it at Rory. "Now we're even." 

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed as she looked down at her chest where the snowball hit her. "You got me wet." 

"Serves you right." Lorelai replied with a smile. 

"Rory, it's only snow." Jess interjected as he rolled her eyes at her. 

"Like this?" Dean asked as he threw a snowball at Jess. 

"You did NOT just do that." Jess said with an angry stare. 

"Here." Dean replied as he hit him again. "Are you imagining things now?" 

"No," Jess replied as he hit Dean back with a snowball of his own. "I guess that means that" as he pointed to Dean's wet coat. "wasn't in your head either." 

"Stop it!" Paris exclaimed as she hit Jess with the snowball. "You two are such babies." 

"He started it!" Jess exclaimed as he looked at Paris. "Hey!" as got hit with a snowball. "What did I do to you?" 

"I've just always wanted know what it felt to hit you with a snowball." Lane replied simply as she tilted her head and smiled smugly at him. 

"Well how did it feel?" Jess asked back. 

"Pretty good actually." Lane replied. 

"How about this?" Jess asked as he hit her with a snowball of his own.  
  


"Don't throw snowballs at my girlfriend!" Dave cried back as he picked up some snow and threw it at Jess. 

"Well she started it." Jess said as he threw one at Dave. 

"Shut up Jess." Lorelai replied as she threw one in his direction, but instead it hit Dean in the process.  
  


"Hey!" Dean exclaimed as he picked up some snow and threw at Lorelai. 

Within seconds, what was a simple exchange between a mother and daughter, quickly became a free for all, bonafide snowfight, where everyone could be the victim. 

"Hey people!" Kirk cried out as he watched the battle and tried to block his beloved snowman. "Just stay clear of snowman Kirk." And instead of a civil reply, all of his protests garnered this simple response: A snowball to the face. 

The battle became so fierce that suddenly Luke marched out of the diner, after witnessing the intense fighting and started screaming. "Hey stop it! Or someone is going to get hurt." 

"Yeah Unkie Luke?" Jess mocked as he threw a snowball at Luke. "What do think about that?" 

"ALRIGHT! You asked for it smartmouth!" Luke yelled as he grabbed snow from the ground and proceeded to pummel Jess with snowballs, releasing all the anger that had been building up towards him the whole day. 

As the battle raged on, it became less about revenge than it was about just laughing and having fun. Dean and Lane tagteamed behind the gazebo as they were on guard, watching if Paris, Rory or Dave would peep out behind the trees to attack them, Lorelai and Luke began to gang up on Jess until Lorelai switches alliances and joined forces with Jess to get Luke. All the while, Kirk laid on the ground, helpless as they ran by him. 

"Somebody help me!" Kirk said weakly as he raised his hand to show where he was lying. "Can't somebody stop the madness?" 

The townspeople just watched excitement at the craziness. It had been the most exciting thing they had seen all week so who were they to stop it? Others, as they looked on, found the whole thing appealing and started a snowball fight of their own. It was only until Taylor was aware of the situation that there was any hope of the battle to end. He quickly ran towards the gazebo where he had already set up the sound system for the night's event and began yelling into the microphone "**STOP IT! STOP IT ALL OF YOU!!!**" 

And then everyone stopped as Rory and Dave peered out from their hiding place behind some benches, and Dean and Lane slowly stood up from behind snowmen. Lorelai, on Luke's back, was in the middle of smoshing snow into Luke's face. As they both heard Taylor's fiercesome voice, they both hit the ground, lying next to one another. Jess had been throwing snowballs at Paris, who was walking backwards throwing snowballs of her own. As they heard the piercing screech of the microphone, Paris began to lose balance. Jess tried to hold onto her hand but instead fell down with her, him lying right on top of her. 

"Oww!" she cried out his head hit hers. 

"Are you okay?" Jess said as he touched her forehead. 

"Yeah, I'm fine." Paris said as she rubbed her forehead herself. "I'm just wondering what Taylor's going to do with us when he finds us. Are you okay?" 

"Nah, I'm fine. No cuts, maybe a little bruising but other than that I'm okay." Jess said with a shrug and then looked into her eyes. 

Paris looked back at him she felt a pained feeling in her gut. His head were so close and his lips just hung over hers. "Hey…" she whispered as those were the only words she could muster. 

"Hey…" he whispered back as he brushed some hair from her face and touched her face and bent down gently to kiss her. 

The kiss was so gentle and sweet that Paris thought her heart was going to skip a beat. She held onto the back of his neck as she eagerly kissed him back. The kiss would have lasted longer if Taylor's menacing voice hadn't startled them. 

"YOU PEOPLE BETTER HAVE AN EXPLANATION FOR ALL OF THIS!" He cried out as you could hear the groans from everyone around as they knew a bitter lecture was about to follow. 

Jess and Paris just sat up and stared at one other, without having to say a word. The moment spoke for itself.  
  


**** 

"Explain me this." Paris asked as she looked over at Rory, who sat beside her. "Taylor just gave us a talk about the rules of the town, yet he let into his soda ice cream shop?" 

"I know it's confusing but as long as Taylor gets to say what he wants, he'll still give you service. I mean we are paying customers." Rory explained as she sipped on the foamy hot cocoa. 

Dave, Lane, Jess, and Dean were all sitting on the stools by the counter of Taylor's soda ice cream shop, while Luke grudgingly went back to work and Lorelai went home to put away her groceries. 

The soda shop had opened in the summer, much to Luke's endless protests as his begrudging landlord. Even though the shop mainly specialized in ice cream sodas, it also served hot beverages to have business during the winter months. The place looked exactly like a 50's diner with its gleaming red counters, silver stools with matching red seat cushions, diner booths and to top it all off, a jukebox on the side playing only 50's music. It was cute and wholesome. It was exactly the type of feeling that Taylor wanted to encourage in this town. 

"He's just a crazy freak who thinks he owns the town." Jess added as he drank his cocoa. 

"With those warm and fuzzy feelings, no wonder he thinks you're out to get him." Lane observed as she gave him a look. 

"Hey, I did not do any of those things he's accusing me of." Jess defended. 

"Like you didn't draw that chalk body and put police tape around his store." Dean said. 

"Or stole Babette's gnome." Rory added. 

"Or harassed Miss Patty's dancers." Lane added further. 

"You did all of that?" Dave asked as he looked to Lane for clarification. 

"Okay, I admit I did do all of those things." Jess replied as he looked at their accusing stares. "But I'm not his Secret Santa, I swear." 

"Whatever, it's not like he's going to believe you." Dean exclaimed. "Even if you didn't do all of that stuff, you're still a jerk." 

"Whatever Dean." Jess scoffed back. "It's not you were welcome into this town with open arms. Rory told me." 

"Did Rory tell you that I could beat the crap out of you?" Dean yelled back. "Cuz I'm pretty sure that hasn't gotten through to your thick skull." 

"Hey guys." Dave said rationally. "Just calm down you guys." 

"Shut up!" they both yelled simultaneously. 

"You want to get into this?" Jess asked menacingly as he got out of his stool. "Fine! Before I wouldn't beat your ass cuz of Rory but I don't have that anymore so I've got nothing to lose. And beating you here, in Taylor's shop, makes it even sweeter." 

"Good." Dean spit back as he jumped from his seat and faced him head to head. "I don't have Rory to hide behind and neither do you." 

As Jess and Dean were about to throw punches, suddenly Paris began to scream, stopping them both in their tracks. "WILL YOU TWO FUCKING STOP IT? I've had it and everyone has had it too! You both are fucking babies and you just can't stop until one of you wins in this so called pissing contest. Just get over it! You don't have Rory to fight over anymore so move on! Are you guys so pathetic that you're still mooning over her? Well get what? She's moved on so you should too." As she stared at Jess. 

"Paris…"He said as he tried to explained. 

"Don't even talk to me. Just hit Dean and let Dean hit you and then let be over with." Paris said sternly, not even looking at him anymore. 

"I've got a better idea." Rory exclaimed as she looked over at Paris and then at Jess and Dean. "They should just kiss and make up. Literally." 

"What?" Dean said with a questioning stare. 

"You heard me." Rory said simply and then pointed to the ceiling. "Mistletoe." 

"Oh hell no!" they said simultaneously as they looked at each with disgust. 

"I'm not going near that son of a bitch." Dean spited out. 

"And I'm not kissing that bastard." Jess added, folding his arms in protest. 

"No buts." Rory said simply. "You know the rules. You two stood underneath the mistletoe so you have to kiss. Rules are rules, right Lane?" 

"Yeah." Lane replied with satisfaction. "It's only a kiss. I mean you were both willing to beat the crap out each other, so why not a kiss?" 

"We certainly won't question your manliness." Dave added. 

"Didn't we just tell you to shut up Dave?" Jess said with a scowl. "I don't care. I'm not going to kiss that idiot. Never." 

"Just kiss him." Paris said sternly. "Kiss him and let it be over and done with. Forvever." 

He stared at her as he saw the graveness in her voice and the serious look on her face. He remembered how she looked lying underneath him and how her eyes were striking at that moment and how they were striking at this moment too. But he had a feeling that if he didn't listen, he would live to regret it. 

Suddenly he pounced onto Dean, grabbed his face in his hands and kissed him fiercely on the lips. 

"What the fuck?" Dean said as he pushed him back hard, wiping his lips and spitting. 

"Just an early Christmas gift Dean." Jess replied. "Or should I say _loverboy_." And then looked over at Paris. 

"Oh my God!" Lane said, completely speechless. "Did I see what I thought I saw." 

"Yes." Dave clarified, clearly put off by the strange moment. "Yes indeed." 

"Aww." Rory interjected with a smile. "You made up." 

As Dean and Jess looked at each other, they both finally realized the reality of the situation, they looked at each other in horror as they both ran. Jess towards the washroom and Dean rushing out of the shop, leaving the rest of them barreling over in laughter and Paris smiling quietly. 

TO BE CONTINUED 


	6. PART VI WHAT? WHO? UH, OKAY

Title: Secret Santa Stars Hollow Style 

Feedback: Yes please. 

Summary: After their first term at Harvard, Rory invites Paris to stay in Stars Hollow for the Christmas Break, smack dab in the middle of the town's first Secret Santa Christmas celebration. Craziness ensues as everyone (especially Lorelai) tries to figure out who's their Secret Santa.

Spoilers: Everything up till _Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving_. 

Rating: PG-13 

Pairings: definite possibilities for Paris/Jess, Luke/Lorelai, and other ships. 

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from _Gilmore Girls_

***NOTE*: _Thanks to all who have been reading this story and have been enjoying it. I loved writing this story and I'm so glad that a lot of you seemed to have embraced it. Yes, the Jess/Dean kiss from the last chapter came to a surprise to many but it seemed like the best way to handle it. Very much a tribute to the Will/Scout kiss from the 'Young Americans' series finale as well as from the 'Godfather' trilogy. Although this is the last chapter, I have an idea for a sequel but it'll probably concentrate on one couple instead of the whole town. And if you thought the Jess/Dean thing was crazy, just you wait: there are more surprises in store for you... Also, this chapter's not as crazy as the other chapters but more romantic in feeling, okay? Enjoy!_**

****

PART VI SAY WHAT? WHO? UH, OKAY 

"Oh my God!" Lorelai said between fits of laughter. "I can't believe I missed that. And he kissed him?" 

"Right on the lips!" Rory squealed as sat on the couch with Lorelai as Paris paced up and down, completely silent. "I mean, I didn't really think that they'd go through with it but Jess just grabbed his face and kissed him." 

"Wow." Lorelai said with disappointment. "I always miss the good stuff. Why didn't you take pictures?" 

"Hello," Rory replied. "Didn't have a camera! But it definitely was something you just had to see for yourself." 

"Man," Lorelai said with a sigh. "I wonder what else did I miss." 

"Jess kissed me." Paris said suddenly. 

"He what?" Lorelai and Rory said at the same time. 

"Jess kissed me." Paris said as she plopped down on the couch.  
  


"When? Where?" Lorelai asked with eagerness. "We need details!" 

"We were lying in the snow when Taylor started screaming and then I don't know. I looked at him and he looked at me and then we kissed." Paris explained. 

"Wow…"Rory said, amazed by the story. 

"Was it a good kiss?" Lorelai asked. 

"I mean, I haven't kissed many guys but…it was." Paris said with a small smile. "It was gentle, sweet, and romantic." 

"Wow. Three adjectives I'd never think up when it comes to Jess." Lorelai observed. 

"Mom!" Rory nudged Lorelai. 

"Rory, I just thought when you were dating him that you were the only one who thought he was this great guy. I thought it was a crazy fluke." Lorelai explained. "But with Paris thinking the same thing, I have to wonder." 

"I never said he was a great guy!" Paris protested. "He's a loudmouth jerk who can't help but pick fights with Dean." 

"Then why did you kiss him?" Lorelai asked. 

"Well, it just happened." Paris said with a sigh. "And at the time, I thought it was… wonderful. But then no more than two seconds later, he gets into Dean's face and starts a brawl all over again." 

"Oh." Lorelai replied, beginning to understand the situation. 

"But Dean and Jess have always been fighting." Rory said. 

"And why? Because they both had a thing for you." Paris explained as she sat back onto the couch. "I mean they both broke up with you but they're still fighting. And it makes me think…that they'll never get over you. That Jess will never get over you." 

"That's not true." Rory protested. 

"Oh come on Rory!" Paris said as she shook her head. "Even on my better days, I could never compare to you. They look at you and they fall all over themselves to date you and when they look at me, Paris Geller, they just laugh and mock about how pathetic my life is! And I don't be ridiculed again!" 

"Paris, this is different." Rory replied as she tried to comfort Paris. "Jess likes you. If he didn't then why did he kiss you?" 

"I don't know." Paris said with a sigh. "Maybe he just wanted to add to my lists of embarrassments, I don't know." 

"Well maybe you should go talk to him." Lorelai suggested. "Find out how he really feels about you." 

"No, no." Paris replied as she stood up from the couch. "I can't do that. That means I have actually talk to him. Face to face." 

"That's the idea, honey." Lorelai explained as she looked up at Paris. 

"But I don't know what to say to him." Paris admitted. 

"Well if you want to know where he stands, then you have to see him." Lorelai replied as she got up and rubbed Paris' shoulders for comfort. Then she turned around to Rory. "I forgot Rory! This came in for you when you were out." She then walked over to the closet and pulled it out. 

"Oh my gosh!" Rory replied as she took a breath. It was a dark cranberry dress with spaghetti strings. It was gauzy at the hem while its bodice shimmered under the lights. Paired with it was a long black coat. 

"It also came with this note." Lorelai said as she gave the card to Rory. 

"Wear me and come to this location at 9 pm. Don't be late." She read outloud. "Mom, did you see who sent it?" 

"It was just a delivery guy." Lorelai said apologetically. "But your Secret Santa really went all out this time." 

"Yeah," Paris chimed in. "It's really great and I have just the thing to go with it. Wait here." 

Paris ran towards Rory's bedroom and then came out with a little box wrapped up delicately in silver paper and ribbon. 

"I was going to save it for Christmas but I think it's better to give it you to now." Paris said with a smile. "Open it." 

Rory smiled as she ripped open the box to reveal a silver necklace with a little heart. Within the heart was a smaller heart shaped diamond. "Thank you Paris!" She replied as she hugged Paris tightly, completely touched by the gift. 

"You're welcome." Paris replied with a smile. 

**** 

The middle of Stars Hollow had turned into a spectacular Winter Wonderland. All the trees were glittered with twinkle lights. The snowmen, although slightly beaten from the snowfight earlier in the day, had been rebuilt and stood proudly close to the gazebo. Taylor had also sent in ice sculptures, shaped as angels, presents, santa claus and other holiday figures which stood on display all around the outside of the circle in the middle of town. The Christmas Tree stood tall as it waited to be lighted at midnight. And the horse drawn sleigh, which Taylor had been panicked about earlier finally arrived and had already been giving out rides. 

"Isn't this great Jackson?" Sookie said with glee as they sat comfortably in the sleigh which rode around in a circle around town. 

"Yeah it's great." Jackson replied with a smile. "But not as great as what you got me, Secret Santa." 

"Jackson! How did you guess?" She looked at him with puzzlement. "I was trying so hard all week to keep it from you." 

"Well, don't be mad but when I was cleaning out the closet today, I kinda stumbled upon your present." Jackson said with a wink. "I had no idea my wife was no naughty." 

"Jackson!" Sookie whispered as playfully swatted him. "Not in front of the sleigh guy!" 

"He doesn't care." Jackson insisted as he moved his head closer to Sookie's. "So are you mad?" as he looked her with puppy dog eyes. 

"No, of course not." Sookie said with a smile. "I'm just glad you liked it, even before we even put it into use." She said with a wink. "I was thinking you could Santa and I could be Mrs. Claus… you like?" 

"I definitely like." Jackson said with a smile as he kissed his wife. 

"I forgot." Sookie whispered with a smile. "I have one more present for you." 

"Really?" Jackson asked, eager to hear what she had in store for him. "What is it? It's not another costume is it? Cause you know how some pants look really bad on me like a sailor…" 

"Jackson." Sookie interjected as she put her fingers to his lips to shut him up. "I think I'm ready." 

"Ready for what?" Jackson asked, now puzzled. 

"I think I'm ready to have a baby." Sookie said with a smile.  
  


"Really? Are you sure?" Jackson said with concern. "Because I don't want to pressure you into anything." 

"No, I'm ready Jackson." Sookie assured as she gazed into his eyes.  
  


"So we're try?" Jackson asked her gently.  
  


"Yeah, we're going to try." Sookie replied as she kissed him. 

**** 

Lorelai, Rory and Paris walked slowly as they looked around at how marvelous the town had become. 

"Wow." Rory commented as she looked around. "I can't believe Taylor pulled this off." 

"He does it every year." Lorelai observed. "And despite his anal tendencies, he always manages to make everything beautiful. Hey Patty!" she waved as she saw Patty on stage with her little dancers. 

"Hey Lorelai, Rory, Paris! We're just about to start the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies." Patty explained. 

"Aren't they cold?" Paris observed as she watched the little girls slightly chatter their teeth. 

"They'll be fine." Patty assured them. "They'll dance this one dance and then be sent to bed with hot chocolate. Sometimes you have to suffer for beauty." 

"How's Taylor?" Lorelai asked. "I saw him this morning and he was so panicky." 

"He's not doing too well." Patty said with a sigh. "Although I kept telling him that everything was going to be fine, the fact that the band that he hired hasn't showed up has made him go crazy. And now he's sitting over there," she pointed over at a sad looking Taylor sitting on a picnic table. "Drowning his sorrows in eggnog." 

"Man, I know we always rag on him but it's Christmas! He shouldn't be so down." Lorelai said with sympathy. 

"He'll be fine." Patty assured them. "Once he gets over his paranoia about Jess and the Secret Santa thing, he'll be fine. By the way, I heard you think that Luke's your Secret Santa. So are you going to try it with him?" 

"Way to segue way into a topic there Patty." Lorelai replied. "No, I'm not going to try it with him. We're just friends." 

"Keep telling that to yourself honey." Patty said with a smile. "Maybe someday we'll be as deluded as you are." 

"Thanks Patty." Lorelai said sarcastically. "By the way, have you seen Kirk? We need to find him." 

"He's right over there with the kids." Patty replied. 

"Kids?" Rory repeated. 

"You'll see." Patty said simply. 

As they walked over to where Patty had directed them, there they found Kirk, dressed up in a Santa costume as kids lined up to sit on his lap. 

"So what do you want for Christmas little boy?" Kirk asked under his beard. 

"You're not Santa Claus. You're not that fat." The little boy replied. 

"I am Santa Claus. It's just that Santa decided that lose some weight to have better self esteem." Kirk explained. 

"I don't know." The boy replied, looking suspicious. 

"Come on, just tell me what you want kid." Kirk said swiftly. 

"Well, I want some Pokemon trading cards…" the boy said as he began to think. 

"What are Pokemon?" Kirk asked. 

"You don't know what Pokemon are?" the boy asked, shocked by the notion. 

"Well…um.. of course I know what Pokemon are, silly." Kirk said as he pretend to joke with him. 

"No, I think you're lying." The boy insisted. 

"Come on kid, you're embarrassing me." Kirk whispered to the kid as the other kids stared at him. 

"I think you're a phony." The kid said simply. 

"Oh yeah?" Kirk asked. 

"Yeah!" the boy answered. 

"Well I think you're a spoiled brat, so guess what kid, you're going on my naughty list." 

"You wouldn't!" the boy lashed at him. 

"Just watch me." Kirk threatened back. 

The boy, astonished that Santa would say such a thing, just jumped off of his lap and stomped on his foot as hard as he could. "Jerk!" 

"Why you little…" Kirk exclaimed as he jumped on one foot to numb the pain. As he was about to chase after the kid, Lorelai and Rory walked over to him. 

"Wow Kirk," Lorelai commented. "You handled that kid real well." 

"Come on!" Kirk protested. "You saw how much of a brat he wa…" he stopped as he notice the other children staring at him with their shocked parents. "Umm… I don't know who are you referring, this Kirk that you speak of. I'm Santa Claus. Ho Ho Ho." 

"Kirk, we need to talk to you." Rory insisted. 

"Fine." He whispered to them and then looked over to the waiting crowd. "Santa's just going to take a little break right now but I promise I'll be right back." And then he motioned both Lorelai and Rory to walk over to the side where his Santa hut resided. 

"So what's up?" Kirk asked as he looked at them. 

"Well I, actually we wanted to give you your final Secret Santa present." Rory explained. "Surprise! I was your Secret Santa!" 

"Wow!" Kirk said, completely shocked by the revelation. "You were the one who did all of that? The trophy, the date… where did you find my baby?" 

"Well, I have my ways." Rory said as she winked at Lorelai. "But here is your last present." 

As she revealed the box that she was carrying, Kirk jumped a bit, startled by the gift. 

"It's a kitten." Rory explained, as she gave Kirk a better look. "Mom helped me pick it at the shelter." 

Kirk just stared at it, a little hesistant of the orange and white kitten that was before him. 

"Don't worry Kirk. He's not like cat Kirk." Lorelai explained, understanding his hesitance. "He's just a little kitty. He won't bite." 

"Are you sure he won't just pounce on me when I'm not looking?" Kirk asked as he looked at him further. 

"No…" Rory insisted. "Just hold him. You'll see." 

After staring at it for a couple seconds, Kirk finally mustered up the courage to reach into the cage to pick it up. "If he attacks me, I'm holding you two responsible." Then he slowly picked it up in his hands and held it in his arms. He slowly began to stroke it as it yawn. "Hey, this isn't so bad." 

"See?" Lorelai said with satisfaction. "He likes you already." 

"We weren't sure of what to call it." Rory explained. "but you could call it little kitty Kirk. It'll be the first cat you own finally fit enough to have your name." 

"Little kitty Kirk." Kirk repeated, trying out the name. "I kind of like it." Then he looked over to both Rory and Lorelai. "Thanks Rory for being a really nice Secret Santa. All of your presents were great." Then he looked over to the kids waiting for him, all of whom were looking really restless. "I've got to go back but really. Thanks you guys." 

"You're welcome." Rory replied with a smile. 

"Now go be the best Santa Claus ever." Lorelai quipped in. "And don't let the kids push you around okay?" 

He looked back at them and smiled. 

**** 

Taylor sat on the picnic bench alone as he poured himself another glass of eggnog from the bowl that rested in front of him. At first, he was just drinking straight eggnog but after waiting for so long for his band to arrive, he had given up hope and poured rum along with the eggnog and started drinking it for the heck of it. It was sad, he knew that despite his drunkenness but he felt depressed, alone and as if he had failed. 

"Hey Taylor." Babette exclaimed as she walked over to him and sat down, with Morey by her side. "Why are you so down?" 

"You look blue." Morey added. 

" Everything ruined." Taylor said with a heavy sigh as he laid his head on the table. 

"What are you talking about sugar?" Babette assured him. "Everything great. Come on Morey! Tell him!" 

"Everything's cool. I really like the ice sculptures." Morey said with a smile. 

"That doesn't matter." Taylor replied as he ignored their comments. 

"Of course it does!" Babette exclaimed as she patted him on the back. "Would it help to say that I really liked all the gifts you've been getting me?" 

"Thanks…"Taylor answered absentmindedly until he realized his cover was blown. "Hey! How did you guess?" 

"I guess the gifts had a certain charm that kinda of said Taylor." She explained. "Conservative, yet classy, in a good way." 

"You're welcome." Taylor replied with a sigh and then poured himself another glass. 

"Oh come on Taylor." Morey said with a concerned tone. "Why are so bent out of shape? It's Christmas!" 

"Come on! Tell us!" Babette urged. "Tell us what's really bothering you?" 

"Him!" Taylor replied drunkenly as he pointed to Jess, who suddenly decided to make an entrance and join the festivities. 

"Oh…" Babette and Morey said simultaneously, finally getting what he meant. "Him…" 

**** 

Jess stood back and took a good look at the town before him. Although he had complained on many occasions on how crazy the town got whenever a holiday rolled around, he had to admit that the town did look half bad that night. As he was about to walk around to search for Paris, he noticed something from the corner of his eye that he just couldn't walk away from. 

"Wow Kirk…" Jess observed as he walked over to Kirk, sitting on his Santa throne, holding kitty Kirk in his arms. "I didn't think you had it in you." 

"Well, sometimes people can surprise you." Kirk replied but as he saw the restlessness of the children waiting for him, suddenly an idea popped into his head. "Come here Jess!" Kirk whispered suddenly as he reached out his hand and dragged Jess closer to him. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jess cried out as Kirk tugged on his arm further. 

"Don't swear in front of the kids!" Kirk whispered fiercely at Jess. "Now sit on my lap." 

"Forget it!" Jess hissed quietly but Kirk kept pulling until he did. 

"Just shut up and smile." Kirk whispered as he looked over at the kids and flashed them a smile. 

"Have you gone completely nuts?" Jess whispered angrily to him. 

"The kids are beginning to turn on me. I can tell by their suspicious stares." Kirk explained quickly. "Their eyes keep looking at me funny. And so I need you to convince them I'm really Santa." 

"So have you been a good boy this year?" Kirk said loudly so the children could hear him. 

"You're crazy you know that right?" Jess whispered to him, as Kirk continued the charade. "So what if the kids turn on you? How is that my problem?" 

"Well, if you want your gift from your dear Secret Santa," Kirk muttered from his fixed smile. "then you'd better listen." 

"You?" Jess whispered in shock. "You're the one who've been sending me those nutty gifts. Oh wait, why should this come as surprise. You're completely insane." 

"yeah, I kinda figured that you're weren't so happy with what I got you," Kirk explained. "So I got you another gift. Hold kitty Kirk will ya?" 

"Kitty Kirk?" Jess repeated as Kirk just handed the kitten to him so that he was able to reach into the inside pocket of his Santa suit and pull out an envelope and handed it to Jess. 

"What is this?" Jess whispered as he looked at the envelope. 

"You like music, right?" Kirk whispered as he took back Kitty Kirk. 

"Yeah I like music." Jess said as he rolled his eyes. 

"Well, I got you tickets to a concert in New York." Kirk explained quickly. "I wasn't sure what you liked so I just asked the ticket guy what was his favourite band." 

"Radiohead." Jess exclaimed as he looked at the two tickets. "Man, that guy had good taste." And then he looked at Kirk. "This was decent of you." 

"You're welcome." Kirk whispered back. "Now can you please help me? I'm dying here." 

"Fine," Jess said and then put on a fake smile. "Hi Santa Claus!" 

"Hello!" Kirk said with a low voice. "Jess is it? Have you been a good little boy this year?" 

"Yes Santa!" Jess replied, putting on his best attempt at enthusiasm. "I've been the best little boy!" he then whispered to Kirk. "how about that?" 

Kirk simply winked as he continued to ask Jess more questions. 

**** 

Rory walked nervously up the stairs, wondering what laid in store for her. The room was completely dark and she couldn't see anything at all. It was just dark. 

"Hello?" Rory called out from within the darkness. Suddenly the lights went on and there stood a smiling Miss Patty. 

"Patty!" Rory exclaimed as she rushed over to her to give her a hug. 

"Hello sweetheart!" Patty replied as she hugged her back. 

"You're the one who's been sending me all those gifts?" Rory asked. 

"Yes. Did you like them?" Patty replied with a smile.  
  


"They were a little puzzling." Rory admitted. " I mean I loved them but I just don't understand why you bought me this dress and got me to meet you at your studio." 

"Ooh! Let me see how it fits on you." Patty exclaimed as she helped Rory with her coat and looked at the dress. "I asked your mother for your measurements but I wasn't completely sure if it would fit you properly but yes, you look beautiful." 

"The dress is so pretty." Rory agreed. " But I still don't get why I'm here." 

"No more questions honey." Patty insisted as she walked away with her coat. 

"Where are you going Patty?" Rory asked, completely puzzled by what was going on. 

"Silly girl." Patty said as she dimmed the lights. "I'm giving you your present." 

"My present?" Rory asked as she stood in the middle of the room. 

"Yes, now hush now." Patty said as she pressed play on the CD player and sounds of Etta James filled the room. "Enjoy!" 

"But…" Rory protested, however before she could get a word in edgewise, the door closed and she was left alone. She stood there, quiet as a mouse and wondered what Patty was up to. As the music got louder, a voice spoke up from out of nowhere stopped Rory dead in her tracks. 

_At last, my love has come along…. _

"May I have this dance?" 

"No it can't be…" Rory whispered under her breath and then turned around to see Tristan standing in front of her, holding out his hand. 

"Tristan…" Rory whispered as she walked slowly towards him. 

"Hey Mary…" Tristan whispered back as he looked at his girl walk closer to him. He smiled at her with that mischevious grin. 

Suddenly, Rory walked faster towards until she ran right into his open arms, grasping his face and kissed him hungrily as if she hadn't seen him in forever. She held onto his face, holding the back of his head and running her fingers through his soft blond locks as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, never wanting to let her go ever again. How she had missed his soft hair, the nape of his neck, his eyes and his lips. They kissed for what felt like a lifetime until Rory slowly broke away to take a good look at him. 

"I thought you were going to be in Vermont for the whole Christmas break." Rory whispered as she traced her fingers down his cheek. 

"I came home early." Tristan replied as he cupped his hand around her face, running his fingers delicately through her hair. " I missed you so much and when Paris called me about Miss Patty and her plan, well, I knew that I couldn't stay away from my girl." 

They both closed their eyes as their foreheads touched and they swayed slowly to the music. They just held each other as the relief of being together warmed their hearts.

_I found a dream that I could speak to, a dream that I could call my own. _

_I found a thrill that I could rest my cheek to, a thrill that I have never known…_

"Did you miss me?" Tristan asked softly as he held her close, his head resting against hers. 

"More than you'll ever know." Rory replied with a smile as she touched his cheek again and realized that it wasn't a dream. He was there, right in front of her and she was never letting him go again. 

_And here we are in heaven… for you are mine…at last…. _

**** 

Paris wandered aimlessly around in circles as crossed her arms. Everywhere she looked, all she could see were happy couples. Sookie and Jackson were standing under a street lamp where a mistletoe was hanging and were kissing each other tenderly as if there was no tomorrow. Babette and Morey sat together on a park bench sipping hot chocolate. Dave and Lane were probably somewhere making out to hide from the watchful eyes of Mama Kim and as she spoke, Tristan and Rory were together, alone at Patty's studio. And where was she? Well, like always, wandering around alone, doomed to be lonely forever. She then noticed that the sleigh was not occupied so out of boredom, she didn't know, she got on the sleigh and went for a ride. 

After a few minutes she was sitting on the sleigh, suddenly, out of the blue, Jess jumped onto the sleigh, nearly startling her to death. 

"Jess! What are you doing here?" Paris demanded as she took a moment to catch her breath. "You could have killed yourself!" 

"Nah! I've done it before." Jess explained as he looked at her. "What I really came here to do was to talk to you." 

"There's nothing to talk about." Paris said simply as she looked away with her arms crossed. 

"You're still pissed at me aren't you?" Jess rationalized as he looked at her face. 

"What do you think?" Paris replied, not moving her head once to acknowledge his presence. 

"I'm sorry that I acted like a complete jerk," Jess exclaimed. "But you have to admit that Dean was acting like an asshole." 

"Whatever," Paris said with a shrug. "What do I care if you get into another brawl with Dean. It's just your way of showing who's the man when it comes to Rory." 

"Rory?" Jess exclaimed. "We hate each other not because of her. Yes, Rory was the source of many of our scuffles but I just don't like him cuz I fucking hate his guts." 

"Why should I believe you?" Paris said emotionless. 

"Because it's the truth. I would have hated him no matter what, even if Rory wasn't in our lives." Jess explained. "And you don't have worry about Rory either. She and I were over a long time ago. I'm over her." 

"Rory's not a girl you can get over easily." Paris interjected. "Talk to Tristan. He knows what I'm talking about." 

"But I'm not Tristan." Jess rationalized. "I could and I did get over her. Yes, I might care for her as a friend or a sister but that's it." 

"Blah, blah, blah." Paris cried out as she rolled her eyes. "Just get to your point before I push you out of this sleigh." 

"What I wanted to say was that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for acting like an asshole and I'm sorry for being a bigger asshole when I didn't say anything after we kissed." Jess explained as he tried to get the words out. "What I should have said was that I like you and I care about you." 

"Really?" Paris asked as her tone of voice softened. 

"Really." Jess insisted as he placed his finger under her cheek and turned her head to face him. "I also wanted to give you this." 

She looked down at the box that he threw at her. "What is this?" 

"Let's just it's the last gift from your Secret Santa." Jess replied. 

"But I thought you said that you were stuck at Luke's?" Paris said. "And if you were at Luke's, how could you possibly have sent me those latkes." 

"Well, I was telling you the truth." Jess said simply. "But what I didn't tell you was while Lorelai and Luke were busy duking it out with each other, to compensate for the sexual tension between them, that I snuck out to send you your present without them ever knowing the wiser. They never even noticed that even left." 

"I thought for sure that you weren't the one." Paris explained. "Those gifts were so nice, so thoughtful…" 

"Yeah, I'm not known for those things." Jess replied. 

"But why Jess, why?" Paris asked. 

"For the same reason it has always been: I like you." Jess answered simply. "Now open your gift." 

Paris picked up the box that laid on her lap and proceeded to open it. She gasped as she looked at the opal earrings that laid inside of it. "Jess, how did you manage this?" 

"Many long nights at Wal-Mart?" Jess teased as he looked at her. "Do you really like it?" 

"I love them." Paris replied but then looked up at him. "But don't think this is going to make me make up with you." She said, pretending to be mad. 

"Oh come on Paris." Jess answered. "You just have to forgive me, you just have to." 

"And why should I?" Paris asked. 

"Because if you don't then I still be the biggest asshole," Jess rationalized. "And if you don't find it in your heart to forgive me, then… who am I going to take to the Radiohead concert?" 

"Radiohead? You have Radiohead tickets?" Paris asked. 

"Hell ya, courtesy of Stars Hollow's own Santa himself, Kirk" Jess explained. "Who also happens to be my Secret Santa." 

"Wow." Paris replied as she thought of his proposition. "Then I guess I have to forgive you." As she moved her head closer to him. 

"I guess you do." Jess replied with a smile as he moved his head closer to her and kissed her. He then suddenly broke away from her and asked, "Do you really think that I'm an asshole cuz you know…" 

"Just shut up and kiss me you fool." Paris exclaimed as she held his face in her hand while he wrapped his arm around as the sleigh continued to ride around the town. 

**** 

Lorelai took a deep breath and walked into the diner. It was time to confront her Secret Santa once and for all and tell him that she knew what was going on. She had built her confidence level right up but when she looked up to see him, what she saw made her heart skip a beat. 

"Wow." Lorelai said breathlessly. "You wore it. You actually wore it." As she pointed to him. 

There Luke was standing, right behind the counter. But instead of his usual uniform of a plaid shirt and baseball cap, he was dress in a dark blue suit, with a dark blue dress shirt, with his hair combed neatly out. He looked good. He looked real good. 

"It was you?" Luke asked as he looked at her. "You were the one who sent me the sign, the poster, that damn shi…I guess it figures. You're the only one who sick enough to come up with kind of gifts. I mean, really? What were you thinking?" 

"That'd like to torture you as long as I could and have fun in the process." Lorelai replied as she shook her head in disbelief. "But I have to say, this takes the cake." 

"Why? Because I look like an idiot?" Luke said as he looked down at his clothes. 

"No!" Lorelai insisted as she sat down on one of the stools at the counter and fingered his suit jacket. "I knew it was going to look good on you since I have tried to dress you before but failed miserably, however, looking at you, right now, I must say you look so handsome." 

"Oh stop it!" Luke scoffed at the suggestion but then looked at her. "You think?" 

"Yeah sure!" Lorelai insisted as she lean back to get a closer look. "You look so good. But what my question is: why did you actually wear it? I mean, when I sent it to you, I didn't think you would ever wear it unless I forced you to." 

"Well, in your card it did say to wear it." Luke explained. 

"but I didn't think you were going to follow the directions." Lorelai protested. "I mean, when was the last time you ever listened to me?"  
  


"Never, but I didn't know you were my Secret Santa." Luke explained. "Anyways, I just thought, what is one more humiliation going to do? It's not like I didn't have a list of humiliations from this experience, but since I was going to hit rock bottom pretty soon, I thought 'what the hell' and just wore the suit." 

"Thank God you still have an impulsive streak in you because you look great." Lorelai said with a smile. "I might even say hot." 

"Thanks I think" Luke replied. "So why did you make me wear this getup? And please don't say it's to make Taylor laugh because I don't think that I could take that." 

"Hey the man is out there, almost swimming in a bowl of eggnog." Lorelai exclaimed as she pointed to the window. "I mean don't you think he needs, deserves to crack a smile? It's Christmas!" 

"Is he really that bent out of shape? I mean, it just a few silly pranks. I mean his Christmas celebration seems like it's going without a hitch. And I heard that except for the band…." 

"That's exactly what's bothering him." Lorelai pointed out. "He's seems so fixated that Jess is out to get him, he's been drunk like a fish the entire night. Now he's sort of sleeping it off but, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really feel sorry for him." 

"Jeez…" Luke sighed. 

"And about the suit, it wasn't to make fun of you." Lorelai said with a smile. 

"Huh? It wasn't?" Luke, clearly getting confused.  
  
"Well I only wanted you to wear it so I could see if it fits you. And seeing that it does, well, we won't about next week." Lorelai explained as she smiled. 

"Worry about what? What's next week?" Luke asked, now getting more perplex. "Lorelai, what are you…" 

"Well, when I went to my mother's yesterday, she just happened to give me these tickets to the ballet, you know to see _The Nutcracker_, for me and Rory, but since obviously Rory's going to be busy since a certain boyfriend of hers has miraculously come into to town, I thought maybe you could come with me." Lorelai explained. 

"Me? Go to the ballet with you?" Luke asked, completely taken aback by the offer. "I don't know…ballet isn't really my thing…" 

"Well it isn't mine either." Lorelai said, completely understanding his qualms. "I just thought that I shouldn't really let these tickets go waste and since there are two tickets, I thought that out of all the people in the world, who I want to suffer through it with and I immediately thought of you." 

"Wow, you really don't get the mean of flattery do you?" Luke replied as he gave her a look. 

"No seriously, it could be fun. I mean, I also buy you dinner. It's on me." Lorelai suggested. "But it's really up to you." 

"Oh. A dinner and the ballet?" Luke asked mischieviously. "Lorelai, are you asking me out on a date?" 

"No…"Lorelai replied as she casually shrugged it off. "It's just two old friends spending time together, getting something to eat and trying to keep each other awake during a really boring ballet. I'll even coerced Jess to cover for you and…I promise not to drink coffee tomorrow." 

"Jess huh…"Luke began. "Hey wait a second here…are you saying what I think you're saying? You, Lorelai Gilmore, queen of coffee, who would be injecting coffee into her veins, will give up coffee for a whole day. And not just any day, but Christmas?" 

"Yes, you heard right Luke." Lorelai declared as she bowed. "Tomorrow I will give up coffee just for you. And it will work out perfectly, I promise. You know why? Because tomorrow I'm going to my parents for Thanksgiving so without coffee, I'd be only semi-conscious, and drinking large quantities of spiked eggnog as a substitute. I'll be comatose and drunk and isn't that really the best way to spend the holidays with your loved ones?" 

"I guess so." Luke replied with a laugh. "And you promise right? I mean, no making coffee at home. No buying coffee. No coffee-related products are to be consumed. Just straight no coffee, cold turkey, right?" 

"Yes to all of the above mister." Lorelai replied with a smile. "I even wrote an agreement with Rory in such a case if you actually agree to this date thing." 

"So you agree that it is a date right?" Luke said with a grin. "I mean you just said it yourself there that it is a date, correct?" 

"No…"Lorelai scoffed, realizing the error in her ways. "I said date thing and that's completely different from a date. It's like a date but it's not." 

"So it's something disguised as a date but in actuality it's not right?" Luke asked. 

"Right." Lorelai agreed. 

"Well then, how could I refuse?" Luke said with a grin. "I'd be happy to go with you especially for the fact that you won't be consuming coffee for a day. I have to see this one." 

"Well great." Lorelai exclaimed with glee. "Oh I almost forgot. Merry Christmas Luke." She pulled out a piece of mistletoe from her purse, reached over the counter, kissed him on the lips with the mistletoe hanging right above them. 

As she pulled back, a fully confused, blushing Luke stood there for a second without muttering a word. "Lorelai…what was that?" 

"To say thanks." Lorelai replied with a wink. "I know." 

"Know what?" Luke asked suspiciously. 

"Come on Luke!" Lorelai replied. "You don't have to pretend anymore Luke. I know." 

"What are talking about because I'm totally confused here." Luke asked as he gave her a look. 

"Luke! I know! I mean the candy, the Jess thing, the tape and even the charm bracelet." She pointed to the silver bracelet around her wrist. 

"I don't know what you're talking about Lorelai." Luke explained. "Maybe you need one last cup of coffee before substaining from it because you are not making any sense Lorelai." 

"Luke, you don't have to wait till Midnight to tell me." Lorelai explained, now getting seriously annoyed with the situation. "I mean everyone in town pretty much knows who their secret santa is so since you already know that I'm your secret santa, why don't come out and say it that you're my secret santa and be…" 

"I'm not your Secret Santa." Luke replied simply. 

"Say what?" Lorelai exclaimed, shocked by the notion. 

"I'm not your Secret Santa." Luke repeated himself as he was not clear the first time. "I mean, I'm flattered that you thought that I got you those gifts but it wasn't me."  
  


"But..uh…" Lorelai stammered. "what about the story of the kid and the money?" 

"It's true!" Luke explained. "Some little runt of a kid came up and told me about the little stunt and he gave me money for it." 

"I thought that was just a front…"Lorelai said, confused. "So the kid actually existed… and the thought of a kid giving you money for Jess to dress up in a silly hat serving me coffee wasn't weird and you never question tha?" 

"Well it is weird but why should I question it if it meant humiliating Jess." Luke explained. "You know as well as I know that you wouldn't pass up that chance." 

"Yeah, that's true." Lorelai said with a sigh. "But now I'm really confused here. So if it wasn't you who sent me those gifts then who did?" 

"I don't know." Luke admitted. 

Lorelai sat there and thought for a minute and then suddenly pounced over and grabbed him by his jacket. "Luke, do you remember what this kid looked like?" 

"Yeah, yeah." Luke said as he thought it over and then stared out the window. "Hey! There he is!" he pointed at the window to a 12 year old kid, running off somewhere. 

"Luke, I've got to go" Lorelai said quickly as she ran towards the door. "You are going to come out for the Christmas Tree lighting right?" 

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead." Luke said as he motioned to go after the kid. "I'll see you out there later. I just have to take care of some things here first." 

"Thanks Luke." Lorelai exclaimed as she rushed out the door. 

**** 

Taylor slept face down on the picnic bench, snoring slightly. "Jess… gonna get you…punk… hoodlum" he mumbled as he slept. He was so out of it, he didn't even notice as someone repeatedly called out his name. It was not until they nudged him that he jumped up, startled by the wakeup call. 

"Hey…Taylor." Lane said with trepidation. 

"Huh?" Taylor replied as he looked at her, with Dave and his two friends in tow. "Oh it's you. What do you want?" 

"Sorry to disturb you but umm…we're here." Lane announced, wondering what Taylor would do next. 

"What? What are you talking about?" Taylor said in a crass tone. 

"Well, you needed a band right?" Lane asked. "well, we're a band, come to replace your other band, who seems to be a no-show at this point." 

"You're a band?" Taylor asked, not quite sure how to make of this. "Are you any good?" 

"We're great." Lane announced. "And we've been sent here courtesy of your Secret Santa." 

"Secret Santa?" Taylor groaned. "So what are you going to do? Play heavy rock and then smash your instruments at the end? No thanks." 

"No Taylor." Lane insisted. "We're a real band, hired to play real music. We'll just be playing basic Christmas tunes with a rock edge to it. That's it. We've already set up our stuff on the stage but we wanted you to know that we were done since technically speaking, we wouldn't have gotten this gig if it wasn't for you." 

"And we're real sorry that we're late and all sir." Dave explained as he pointed to his two friends. "But we had to go two towns over to get these guys and the traffic was terrible so… yeah." 

"So you're not pulling one over my head, right?" Taylor asked as he looked at the awkward teenagers standing before him. "You telling me the truth right?" 

"Of course! We're completely on the up and up here Taylor." Lane replied as she patted him on the shoulder. 

"Yes, we would never purposely deceive you sir." Dave added, uneasy by the suspicious look Taylor was giving him. 

"Because if you're part of that conspiracy where Jess has been conspiring to make me go insane, well you better watch your step." Taylor announced. 

"No conspiracies here Taylor." Lane assured him. "So can we play?" 

"Whatever." He shrugged as they walked away, happy that he agreed. As he was about to go back to sleep, he looked over and did a double take because what he saw was something that he had never seen before. Something that he never dreamed could be possible. 

He walked slowly towards the miracle. Maybe it was the rum kicking in, who knows, but he rubbed his eyes to check that he wasn't dreaming. That the fact that he was drunk didn't mean that what he saw was a figment of his imagination. Right there, standing right before his was Luke's Diner, complete with coloured Christmas lights, fake snow sprayed on the window and 'Happy Holidays' scrawled hastily onto the window. 

He entered the diner, mouth gaped open, unable to find the words. 

"Oh, here we go." Luke muttered to himself. He had changed quickly out of his suit and now stood there, waiting for his arrival. 

"I can't believe it!" Taylor exclaimed, looking towards Luke with a smile on his face. "Of all your years here in Stars Hollow, ever since you took over your father's store, never did you actually comply with my Stars Hollow store decorations policy." 

"Well I went completely nuts Taylor." Luke explained as looked at Taylor, who was completely out of it. "That's what happens when you join into these kooky town love-ins." 

"But Luke, I didn't think that you'd actually cave in like this." Taylor explained. 

"It wasn't much. I had lights up before but I never lighted them up and I found rusted can of fake snow lying around in the storage closet and scribbled a few words on the window. That's it." Luke explained. 

"No, no Luke. You don't understand the significance of this moment." Taylor explained as he pointed to the window. "To you, it's just fake snow but to me it's like a Christmas miracle." 

"Well, I just felt bad because you were out there, drunk and alone, so I just thought this might bring up your spirits a little bit." Luke explained as he bowed down his head. "And I felt guilty because I was the one causing you all the grief." 

"You? You're the one who wrapped my tree around with the police tape? You paid those hoodlums to harass me? You kidnap my band." 

"Hey, there was no kidnapping involved!" Luke protested. " I just gave them their money back and paid Lane's band to play here instead." 

"I can't believe you're the one who's been making my life miserable just so that you could ruin Christmas." Taylor sulked. "How could you?" 

"I was just having a little fun with you Taylor." Luke explained as he looked at him, though his face showed that he was culpable. "I never thought you'd take things so hard." 

"Well I did." Taylor replied as he crossed his arms and continued to sulk. 

"I'm sorry Taylor." Luke explained. "And to show that I really am sorry, I got you this gift. A real gift." He then walked around the counter to hand it to him. 

"A gift?" Taylor asked and then whispered. "It's not gonna blow up in my face is it?" 

"No Taylor." Luke replied as he rolled his eyes. He then watched Taylor slowly open his gift but his impatience was getting the better of him. "Oh damn it! Just open it already!" 

"Luke!" Taylor exclaimed, completely shocked by what he was seeing. "A personalized plate collection?" 

"Yep." Luke replied simply as he agonized at the sight of it. "Including all your favourite 50s singers' faces on them." 

"Annette? Frankie? Connie? And Fabian?" Taylor read from the box, looking up to him with a wide smile. 

"You have them all now." Luke replied with a sigh. "I thought it would look nice in your soda shop. Oh and here's your bill for next month's rent. 20% off." 

"Luke, I don't know what to say." Taylor stammered as he looked at Luke and then suddenly put his plates set on the table nearby and grabbed him to hug. "Come here." 

"Oh geez!" Luke moaned as he was uncomfortable with anyone touching him, nevertheless hug him. 

"Merry Christmas Luke." Taylor exclaimed as he looked up at him. 

"Merry Christmas Taylor." Luke replied with reluctance as he patted Taylor on the back. 

**** 

Lorelai huffed as she finally caught up to the running rascal that she had been chasing for what it seemed to be forever. Finally at around the snowmen, she grabbed him by his arm and stopped him. 

"Hey!" he exclaimed as he tried to walk away. 

"You're a hard guy to chase after, you know that?" Lorelai exclaimed as she tried to catch her breath. 

"Well, if you don't let me go, I'm going to scream and tell my mom all about you!" he threatened. 

"No, no, no kid, you don't understand. I'm not trying to kidnap or hurt you." Lorelai explained as she tried to calm him down. "I just wanted to ask you a question." 

"What?" He exclaimed as he looked at her. 

"Who gave you the money to give to that grumpy man in the store the other day?" Lorelai asked gently. 

"I promised not to tell." He replied, looking at her weirdly. 

"No, you can tell me." Lorelai exclaimed. 

"No, I promised my friend that I wouldn't say a thing." He repeated himself. 

"Who is this friend of yours?" Lorelai asked. 

"I told you! I'm not supposed to say!" the kid cried back. 

She quickly grabbed him by the coat and got close to his face. "Now tell me you little brat, or really do something that you'll regret." Lorelai threatened as she gave his an evil look. 

"Okay already! You didn't have to do that." The kid replied as he rolled his eyes and straightened his jacket. "The person who gave me the money was her." He then pointed to this mystery person and the moment that Lorelai saw her, she knew. 

"Oh my God!" Lorelai suddenly realized and then ran off. 

She made a quick sprint across the gazebo and panted as she got to the door. Lorelai peered through the window, but there was no one there. "Oh come on!" Lorelai muttered to herself. "You can't be gone yet." 

She knocked on the door frantically until he finally noticed and opened the door. 

"Hey Lorelai." Dean replied as he looked at her. She was panting, holding her stomach as she caught her breath. "Were you running a marathon or something?" 

"Hey Dean," Lorelai said breathless as she leaned against the door frame. "I'm just getting a little exercise and I'm kinda realizing that I'm really out of shape." 

"Yeah, you're not really known for exercising." Dean commented and then leaned closer to her. "So what are you doing here?" 

"I just wanted to talk to you." Lorelai as she looked awkwardly at Dean, trying to shrug off any anxieties. 

"Sure…"Dean replied as he looked at her strangely. "But I'm closing the store soon." 

"Oh, this will only take a minute." Lorelai explained as she walked right past him into the store. 

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Dean asked as he followed her to the back of the store. 

"You really got me there." Lorelai said with a laugh as she shook her finger at him. "I mean that whole time in the store this moment and you didn't even flinch." 

"Oh." Dean replied simply. "So you know, right?" 

"Man, getting that kid to go to Luke's for you was a pretty smart move, I must say." Lorelai exclaimed as she thought back to the kid. "I can't believe you got your kid sister to recruit the kid." 

"Come on, what choice did I have?" Dean said rationally. "If I wanted to keep it a secret than I had to take drastic measures, and you know how nosey you can get." 

"Uh…I'm not nosey." Lorelai scoffed at the remark. "I just like to know things and in my way." 

"See? And if I didn't do what I had to do then you would have figured it out just like that." Dean explained. 

"But the gifts… how did you?" Lorelai, still puzzled by them. Still puzzled by him.  
  


"Well, I have spent countless nights watching movies with you and Rory." Dean replied. " I think I know you well enough that to know that you're addicted to junk food and coffee, you like to watch quirky, sometimes mudane, albeit always pop cultural stuff on tv and you, like me, will do anything to annoy, piss off and humiliate Jess in every way we can." 

"Well, you got me at that one." Lorelai remarked. "But I also heard about a certain kiss that happened in a soda shop…" she said with a smirk. 

"Don't ask." Dean said as he shivered thinking about the moment. "Ugh.. I still haven't washed off my lips long enough and unfortunately the memory of it all will be ingrained in head forever." 

"Sorry Dean." Lorelai said with a laugh. "So I guess Jess isn't the greatest kisser as everyone thought." 

"Nope, far from it." Dean remarked. "Which makes me wonder why Rory went out with him in the first place and why Paris is even interested in him now?" he said with a smile. 

"I guess there's no accounting for taste." Lorelai replied as she smiled back at him. 

"I guess not." Dean exclaimed with a sigh. 

"Well, if it's any consolation, if I was Rory, I wouldn't have dumped you for Jess." Lorelai said with sympathy. "Not in a million years." 

"Thanks." Dean replied as he gave her a smile. "That means a lot." 

"Hey, I should be thanking you." Lorelai interjected. "I mean you really were the best Secret Santa a girl could ask for." As she showed off the charm bracelet around her wrist. 

"You liked it?" Dean asked as he looked at the bracelet. "I thought it gave off the same kind of Lorelainess in it." 

"Lorelainess? Okay." Lorelai said as she laugh. "Come here." She then wrapped her arms around him to hug him. 

Dean wrapped his arms around her and was glad that she never had any ill will towards him. She was a good friend. As he held her, he slowly stared up towards the ceiling and felt an uneasiness in the pit of his stomach. 

"Lorelai…"Dean began. 

"Yeah?" Lorelai asked. 

"Look up…"Dean replied. 

She looked up slowly and groaned. There, hanging from the ceiling was another mistletoe. 

"Crap." Lorelai replied as she pulled away from him. "What is with me and mistletoe? I'm always under them." 

"Hey don't forget about me and the unfortunate incident that I never want to remember again." Dean said as he stared at it a little longer and then looked at her. "So what should we do?" 

"I don't know." Lorelai admitted. "I mean, no one's around so maybe we can get out of it." 

"Yeah, get out of it. That's a good plan." Dean said as he shuffled where he stood. "We'll just walk away and no one would know." 

"But…" Lorelai began to ponder. "what if…Dean, do you believe in bad luck?" 

"No…uh…well maybe." Dean said, uncertain. 

"Well what if we cheat on this one and then bad luck is going to follow us?" Lorelai explained. "I don't want to be cursed with bad luck. My life has enough problems without getting cursed by that!" as she pointed to the ceiling. 

"So…"Dean said as he furrowed his brow, wondering what to do. "What do you think we should do?" 

"Well, I think, we should just get it over with and then forget it ever happened, deal?" Lorelai suggested. "We do it and then there's won't be any curse and our lives could just go back to normal, right?" 

"Right." Dean agreed. 

"Do you have qualms about kissing me because I don't think I would have any problems about kissing you except for the fact that you used to date Rory and I'm her mother." Lorelai said as a cold shiver went down her spine. Thinking it in those terms made it really icky in her mind. 

"yeah, there is that." Dean as he made an uncomfortable face. "But there's going to be awkwardness anyways, in whatever light you see it in. It's you and me. It's gonna be weird." 

"I know, but it can't be as bad as kissing Jess, right?" Lorelai explained as Dean nodded in agreement and shivered in disgust at the memory of it. "So let's just get it over with it now so we can just go outside and watch the Christmas Tree lighting." 

"Okay." Dean agreed as he rubbed his hands together. "So do we count it off or what?"  
  


"Okay… on my count, okay?" Lorelai replied as she looked at him. "Three, two, one…" As they moved closer to each other, they both aimed at each other's cheek but somehow they miscalculated and ended up kissing each other on the lips. At first, the moment that their lips touched, their eyes widened at the shock of what had happened but somehow, they didn't pull away from each other. Lorelai thought about how soft his lips felt against hers while Dean thought of how sweet her kiss was. Dean slowly his hand to her face, while wrapping the other around her to pull her closer to him. Their kiss deepened as Lorelai in turn, wrapped her arm around him as well and ran her fingers through his soft brown hair. For a moment, they were both entranced by and wrapped up by it, that they didn't pay attention to the world. Instead, the only thought that they had in their minds was how warm the kisses had become. Dean moaned softly as Lorelai slowly opened her eyes. Dean opened his eyes as well as the reality of what was happening hit them like a cold blast of air. They suddenly jumped away from each other, both stammering, mouths open unable to utter a word in edgewise. All they could do was stare. 

Lorelai gave him questioning stare and wondered if the kiss even really happened or if it was just in her head. But as she looked at the confused look on Dean's face made her quickly realize that it wasn't a dream and that was left was a very awkward looking young man and a woman who could be his mother. The thought of that just made her feel old and even more desperate to escape. 

"…Okay…"Lorelai said slowly, not exactly sure what they should do next. "Umm…Dean… I think I should go now…I'm just going to back away and leave, okay?" 

"Yeah…" Dean responded with equal uneasiness as he looked down not being able to meet her eyes. "I've got to close up and uh…yeah." 

"I see you outside, okay?" Lorelai said with a slight frown as the fact that they were in the same room together had been so comfortable before but now all they want to do was to leave each other's sight.  
  


"Yeah…I'll see ya Lorelai." Dean replied as he wave at her and went about cleaning up once more. 

As she left him in the store, she looked around and pondered at what she had done. 

Dean, on the other hand, tried to get back to work but then quickly glanced out at the window as he looked at Lorelai as she walked away and wondered if their relationship would forever be as awkward as that moment right then. He then put his fingers to his lips, thought back and then quickly brushed aside and went about to sweeping again. 

**** 

Lorelai walked slowly, trying to regain composure as she watch everyone crowd around the Christmas Tree, waiting for Taylor to give the okay to light it up. She gently nudged Rory who was standing, gazing up at the tree. 

"Hi honey." Lorelai whisper as she tapped her and then Rory turned around to smile. 

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed as she gave her mom a big hug. "Where were you? We were looking for you everywhere!" 

"Oh I was around." Lorelai said vaguely, trying to smile. 

"Are you okay?" Rory as she looked closer at her. 

"I'm fine!" Lorelai said with enthusiasm and then turned to the blond hair boy who stood beside Rory. "So you are the infamous Tristan." She said slyly she held out her hand. "I've heard a lot, a lot about you. I'm so glad to have finally met you." 

"And I'm glad to meet you as well. Rory always talks about you." Tristan explained as he shook her hand and then smiled. 

"So what do you think, mom?" Rory asked as looked at her mother. 

"Hmm..." Lorelai said as she looked at how handsome Tristan really was. "I told you Rory..you just can't beat seeing the real thing." 

Rory smiled as she got close to Lorelai and hugged her, as she still kept holding Tristan's hand. Lorelai, in turn, rested her head on top of Rory's and watched the crowd around her. Babette and Morey stood together as they chatter happily. Sookie and Jackson had such cheerful looks on their faces as Sookie finally met Lorelai's glance and wave at her and mouthed at her that she had told Jackson an they were finally going to have a baby. Lorelai grinned back at her, happy for Sookie that she had such a great husband like Jackson. She looked around further as Kirk sat beside Miss Patty he doted on Little Kitty Kirk and Miss Patty awed about how adorable was the newest addition to Stars Hollow. Lane and Dave sat on the edge of the stage with their feet hanging down, as Lane leaned her head against Dave, while his head rested against her head. They looked content and peaceful. Even Jess, who was usually would have been so unhappy, was in turn actually smiling as his arms were wrapped tightly around Paris while Paris pointed up to the Christmas tree. 

Lorelai sighed contently as it seemed as if everyone around her was happy for this one moment in time. 

"Hey." Luke whisper as he approached her from behind. 

"Hey." Lorelai whispered back as she smiled in his direction. 

"So when is Taylor going to light the damn tree?" He asked her. 

"I don't know but surprisingly enough, he looks happy." Lorelai observed as Taylor just stood beside the tree, looking excited. "I wonder why he's so cheerful again." 

"I think he's gotten over his Jess paranoia so to speak." Luke explained as he looked over at her. "Now we're just stuck with plain, old, stick up his ass Taylor." 

"Yeah." Lorelai said as she laughed. She smiled for awhile until she saw Dean, walking towards the crowd, with his hands in his pockets. They met each other's glance and for a moment there they didn't know what to do. Finally Lorelai began to smile. Seeing her, Dean smiled back. 

"Are you okay?" Luke said as he remarked the look on her face. 

"Yeah I'm fine." Lorelai replied as she gazed up at him. "I'm just fine." 

As the clock struck midnight, Taylor raised his arms and then pushed the button and then the tree lit up like magic from top to bottom, as everyone gasped. 

"Merry Christmas Lorelai." Luke whispered to her as he stood beside her. 

Lorelai looked down at the happy expression on Rory's face as she hugged her tighter and then looked back at Luke. "Merry Christmas Luke." She whispered back and watched the Christmas tree illuminate like a bright star before them. 

THE END.

_NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I can't believe the series is finally over! It's the first story that I have ever written where it's been completed. And boy has it been a great run. Now that the story's finished, I can tell you where the inspiration of this story came from. Although what motivated me to write it was the fact that I could include Paris in the story, the main reason that I wrote this story was the Dean and Lorelai twist at the end. Despite everything and the fact that I adore Lorelai and Luke, I am a crazy Lorelai/Dean shipper and it was always the plan to have Dean be her Secret Santa. The accidents that happened as I wrote this story was to have so much about Kirk, so much about Jess (I never even thought I could really write him) and include most of the characters in the Stars Hollow world. Even though I'm really proud of this story, I know it's probably going to hard to categorized since it has so many ships going on at the same time and it doesn't truly focus on anybody. It's just a fun, kinda fluffy fic about the town. That's it. I don't know if I'll ever be able to write another GG fic but I'd like to think I could. Thanks for reading and loving it as much as I do._

_Love, Cindy _


End file.
